This is Just Berserk
by Purplerose128
Summary: Fem!Hiccup and Dagur fanfic. The Berserker Tribe has returned to Berk to renew their treaty, along with some knowledge of the dragons. In his quest to uncover the truth, Dagur comes to find that Hiccup is the Dragon Conqueror and assists the Outcasts in her capture. But as confusing feelings mess with his head, they wind up in a bigger mess than anticipated.
1. The Berserkers' Return

**Hello, readers~! **

**I should probably explain myself here, um... see, I was watching Riders of Berk and I got to Dagur's episode. And... I was thinking about someone's genderbends of Hiccup and Astrid that I saw on Tumblr the same day. Then I started thinking and... this mess happened. ... And now I ship something that I really don't think I should. **

**Anyway, I'll get out of your hair and let you read now. I hope you like it. :)**

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Berk was bustling a little more than usual that day because, once again, the annual treaty with the Berserkers had to be signed. Her father busy with preparations for the tribe's arrival, Hiccup was free to take one last ride on Toothless before stowing him away, like all of the other dragons, until the foreign yet familiar ships left the docks once again and Berk's biggest secret could roam free for another year. The wind blew her long auburn hair in every direction as her dragon picked up speed and they performed a barrel roll over the cove they had met in.

Hiccup's focus was heightened as she tried to sooth her anger. It was nice that Berk had been aligned with the Berserker tribe for so long and, from what she saw of him, Oswald the Agreeable was a great chief to the Berserkers. Her problem was with Oswald's son, Dagur. She had known him since she was a little girl and never really had any appeal toward him, in any sense. Especially in recent years, when the deranged boy used her for a knife throwing target or when he tried to drown her in the lake and just laughed it off in his usual, gut-wrenching way. She scoffed at the thought as her rage only continued to rise. She really wasn't looking forward to seeing his face again.

Toothless landed in the cove, allowing his rider to dismount and give him one last scratch behind the ear before she went back to the village on her own. "You have to stay here, bud." She said softly "If that monster finds you, I'll never forgive myself." Hiccup strode to the rocky walls of the cove and began to climb up, glancing back to smile at her best friend who returned it with his own gummy grin. She rolled her eyes before vanishing from Toothless' sight, above the walls of stone, and made her way home.

Hiccup made her way through the thick forests of Berk, which were slowly becoming a wasteland as winter set in for its very long welcome. Dry, brown leaves fell around her at even the smallest breeze that blew her already wind-whipped hair and the smell of freshly chopped lumber lingered in the air. Today would have been a beautiful day for her to perfect a new trick she had come up with for her and Toothless. But no, she more than likely had to babysit the craziest guy she'd ever met while their parents took care of the treaty. Hiccup would, for once, give anything to be her father for the day. Dagur's always made her feel… uncomfortable, to say the least. She never knew what stupid or wrong thing he would do next and they always involved her or her friends. Well… Snotlout aside. For some reason, her cousin had always managed to avoid Dagur's wrath.

Hiccup exited the sea of dying trees and her village welcomed her back silently. Had it been a few months earlier, the villagers nearby would have greeted her and may have even offered a free sample of something they were selling. But, like all fame does, Hiccup's story of making peace between the dragons and the Vikings was becoming less of an attention gainer and more of a description. She didn't mind the peace of being just another Viking again. In a way, she was glad that she had breathing room again. Getting through the village became claustrophobic after her fame really set in.

Hiccup finally made it to the docks to find her father and Gobber staring out to the vast ocean that surrounded their tiny island. "Hiccup, what took you?" Stoick asked.

Confusion formed on Hiccup's face and she stared out as well, to see the ships were closer than she thought they would be by now. Though still a distance away, it was only customary to watch the ships roll into the docks each year. "Oh man, Dad I'm sorry. It took me some time to make Toothless let me go on my own." She chuckled "You know it's hard to separate us."

"I know better than anyone." The Viking chief replied "But it's for the best that Oswald doesn't know about the dragons."

"The last thing we need is another Berserker Skirmish." Gobber added in.

"So, let me guess. Since you never said otherwise, I have to keep Dagur from breaking things again?" Hiccup rolled her eyes at the thought.

"You hid the dragons, Hiccup." Stoick continued "You've done enough. Just make sure that all of them stay hidden."

"Of course." Hiccup answered. A joyful grin appeared on her face at the fact that she could take refuge in the forest with Toothless instead of entertain Dagur during his visit. Well, until she had to attend another treaty custom: the feast in the mead hall. Being the future chief, or hoping to be, she had to learn the ropes of these formalities that have wedged their way into the Vikings' normally rugged nature.

About fifteen minutes of silence passed over the trio before the first Berserker ship stopped in the docks, soon followed by two more ships. Hiccup gazed out to the waters and noticed the Berserkers had brought a whole armada with them, which sat about a quarter of a mile away from the docks_. Funny how Oswald was suddenly in need of so much back up…_ _Do they know about the dragons? _Hiccup nervously thought.

The first boat's plank fell to meet the dock, revealing a team of guards surrounding someone, assumingly Oswald. Hiccup's curiosity increased when she noticed the horns of a helmet protruding from behind the guard in front. She'd never seen that set of wavy horns before and it intrigued her that one was a lighter color than the other, almost as if it needed to be replaced.

"Presenting the high chief of the Berserker Tribe." The front guard exclaimed "Cracker of skulls, slayer of beasts, the great and fearsome… Dagur the Deranged!"

The guards stepped aside to reveal none other than Dagur himself. Hiccup and her elders were all in shock. "Oh no…" She mumbled to herself. It was his birthright to be chief someday, after all, but Hiccup silently wondered _What happened to Oswald?_ The new chief spit to the side and gave a menacing grin as he stepped off the boat and approached his fellow chief.

"Stoick," Dagur stated "Long time no see." His gaze slowly turned to the chief's daughter "Same to you… Hiccup." He smirked at Hiccup, who scoffed and rolled her eyes in response.

"Dagur," Stoick started "Where is your father?"

"He was… retired. Just lost his… lust for blood. But now, I'm prepared to restore the Berserkers to their former glory." Dagur clenched his fist and held up his axe, only to bring it down again, as he sighed "But stories aside…" he ran his fingers down the blade of his axe, taking pleasure in the chill the metal gave him "Where are you keeping your dragons?"

"Dragons? What do you mean?" Berk's chief retorted.

"I'm not stupid, Stoick. I have it on excellent authority that you have an army of dragons on this island. And I intend to find out if it's really true."

Stoick calmly stated "I can assure you that it's not."

"Fine, then… I'll find out in my own time. Onward to the treaty." Dagur insisted.

"Very well… follow me." Stoick commanded as he and Gobber headed back toward the village. A few more Berserkers unloaded from the ships docked and followed their escorts, gesturing for their leader to do the same.

Dagur followed them, after glancing to Hiccup once more "See you at the feast… Hiccup." He chuckled as he passed her.

Hiccup pouted. Why did she always have to put up with this crap? Oh well, no matter in worrying about him now. After all, Dagur wasn't her problem today. Hiccup let out a long sigh as she wandered back from where she came from, the forest. Maybe now she could finally let off some steam, knowing that all she had to do was ensure that the dragons stayed hidden from the Berserkers. What better way to do that than stay where they were hidden in the first place, right?

Lead by Stoick and his guards, Dagur's tour of the island of Berk was slow. When he had gotten off the boat, he noticed… something strange. Hiccup seemed different to him somehow but he couldn't quite place the source of this feeling. _Where did that formality even come from? _He questioned within his mind. It was almost like Hiccup's appearance began to haunt him. Sure, she had grown some more since they last met. But the new chief had never thought twice about the girl before in his life. Why now, all of a sudden?

Glancing about the landscape, he noticed the tiny frame of Hiccup vanishing into the woods. _Where's she going?_ Dagur wondered. His mind wandered on the subject as his host went on about each location they stopped at. Though, Dagur's focus was on Hiccup's escape. He knew that they never really got along in the past, but Hiccup never completely disappeared during his visits before. Something wasn't right… maybe she knew something about the dragons that Berk was supposedly hoarding for an army. Once he got a chance, Dagur had to go investigate. Curiosity was starting to eat away at him and there was only one cure for that. Discovery.

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**Alright, so... this is the start of the mess I've made. If you'd like to see more of this story, leave me a review. I'd love to see what you guys think of this idea so far. Thanks for reading~! :D**


	2. A Bad Time to Swim

**H-hey, fast updating for once~! Good thing I'm on spring break, really. Otherwise, this would have had to wait awhile before I even posted this story. (Seriously, once this week's over, don't expect fast updates.. until June comes... I just can't with everything going on with it being the end of the year)**

**But, anyway, I'm glad to hear that a lot of you guys really like this story and are following it and leaving reviews. Each review I read made me giggle like the fangirl that I am. I really appreciate all of them.**

**Oh, and just a warning... there's some nudity in this chapter. Nothing too bad, since I'm not too comfortable with that kind of writing yet. (Trust me, if you looked at me while I wrote some of this, you'd think I saw a ghost or something stupid like that.)**

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Hiccup sat on the hard, cooled ground of the cove, next to Toothless. The giant black beast, if you could call him that, was sleeping soundly beside his trainer. Hiccup giggled at the sound of her dragon beginning to snore and feeling him twitch slightly. It wasn't often that the girl could escape from the village, now that she had the dragon academy and the usual domestic dragon issues to worry about. Being able to sit and unwind for once felt great; just like when she and Toothless had first befriended each other and she would spend her afternoons in their escape. To the rest of Berk, if they even knew about it, the cove was just a hole in the ground with some trees and a decent sized pond inside it. But, to Hiccup, it was a slice of paradise that was tucked away from her everyday stresses.

Hiccup stepped away from Toothless' side and began to wander about the dying landscape within the cove. Tweets from the few birds that braved to stay on the tiny island just a little longer met her ears, along with the crunching of leaves beneath her metal foot and one furred boot. A grumble came from behind her. She turned to see Toothless stretching, in an attempt to shake free of sleep's spell. He stared at his trainer with his breathtaking green eyes and into the emeralds that were contained in her eyes.

Hiccup smirked "Finally awake there, bud?"

She glanced at the pond and stared at her reflection, moving her bangs out of her eyes with a small smile. Hiccup knelt down and stuck her hand beneath the water's surface, only to quickly pull it out again with a chill that ran down her spine. Her teeth chattered for a moment, remembering that autumn on Berk meant that the little body of water was close to freezing temperatures and would soon freeze over for another nine months of winter's harsh grip.

"Hmm…" Hiccup mumbled to herself "Toothless, plasma blast." She pointed down at the pond and her Nightfury obeyed, firing a purple ball of fire into the water. Upon impact with the water, the blaze seemed to die out; but not before creating an array of bubbles and steam that emitted off the liquid mirror and distorted every reflection within it. Once the fizz calmed, Hiccup stuck her hand in again and smiled at it being pleasantly warm. "Want to go swimming, bud?" She asked her dragon "Might as well, if I'm going to be here all day with you."

Toothless cavorted around her before dashing into the water, blowing a few embers into it as he went. Hiccup laughed as she sat on the ground and removed her boot, soon followed by her vest before she noticed the dragon looking at her with concern.

"Toothless," Hiccup moaned "No one else is here to see me and it's not like YOU'LL go tell anyone."

The dragon rolled his eyes and Hiccup removed her oversized tunic and then her pants, before darting into the pond herself. Striding out until she was up to her neck with heated water, Hiccup held her breath and sunk beneath the surface. A moment passed before she came back up for air and sighed with relief as she floated on her back in the middle of the pond.

Though, her peace didn't last long. Toothless ran past her, overshadowing her with a small wave that swept her out of her daze and back under the water. She re-emerged with a gasp and gave a disapproving look at him, which soon faded into a crooked smile and then a laugh. "You're gonna get it now!" She yelled as she swam after the dragon, which played along by slowly trotting away from her. A small splash came over Toothless' head and he turned to see his rider laughing a little louder. He gave a gummy smile and swatted water at her with his tail. Hiccup spit the water that entered her mouth out and giggled. "You know, it's not fair when you're like three times my size." She remarked. Toothless laughed in response until the girl swatted him with another trivial wave of water and their playful battle continued.

Dagur wandered the wooded landscape just outside the village, finally able to slip away from the tour to investigate where Hiccup had gone. He had to gain more cover quickly thought, or his search would surely be ended before it even began. But exactly why he was looking for his host's daughter still eluded his mind. Was it a hunch that she knew where the dragon army was, if there even was one? Or was it something else? Since spotting her on the docks a little earlier, Dagur had been acting different than usual. Showing off his power, trying to sound all professional, where did any of that come from? Sure, it was great to be chief of the Berserkers but his initial power craze ended months before he arrived on Berk. He couldn't have been trying to make a good first impression; Stoick had known him since he was a little kid. Why, then, was he acting this way?

As he strode deeper into the forest of many shades of brown, Dagur's mind lingered on this thought. Taking out one answer to his behavior with each step, it seemed like something was clouding his judgment for sure. His mind kept going back to Hiccup. Something about her was interesting to him, strangely. But nothing was out of the ordinary in her behavior. She always rolled her eyes at him and, in recent years, has just seemed like she wants nothing to do with him. Then again, he has done some damage around Berk. It wasn't like she had no reason to hate him, but what was so bad about a little destruction and hardship? After all, they're Vikings. Those facts were practically in the job description.

While he continued to process what he was even doing in the woods, Dagur began to hear faint laughter… female laughter… and splashing. Curiosity took hold of his body and he snuck through the sure to crackle leaves and ducked under branches to follow the sound to its source.

"Ok, ok, you win!" he heard shouted in the distance. Another splash.

"That voice…" Dagur mumbled to himself as he proceeded towards the voice. "I know that voice…"

Dagur picked up speed until he saw the beginning of a sharp descent from the plain he'd been standing on. His pace slowed as the sounds grew more audible. Dagur KNEW that voice. It was who he'd been searching for since she vanished from the village.

Kneeling down at the edge, still slightly concealed by the remainder of the brush, Dagur peered upon the cove in the middle of the vast forest. A playful roar sounded from a large black dragon that was running about in the pond that the cove held. "Is that… a Nightfury…?" Dagur quietly gasped at the sight and, upon closer inspection, noticed that the dragon had two different colored tail fins; black and red. The red fin seemed… unnatural. While the black one moved and changed shape as the dragon moved, the red fin remained mostly stationary and simply flopped with the rest of the tail. Who had the guts to go up to that monster, who no one has ever caught before, and equip it with a replacement fin? Dagur surely would have had its head mounted before even considering something like that.

"Toothless!" Hiccup giggled "Can you blast the water again, bud?" The dragon stopped in front of the girl and swam to shallower waters, to touch his feet to solid ground once again. Taking in a breath, the dragon blew another ball of fire into the water, a safe distance from Hiccup, and the water rippled with the distortion into a good sized wave. The wave caught Hiccup and gently nudged her farther out into the middle of the lake.

The man watching from the summit turned his attention to Hiccup, at that point. He never would have thought Stoick's talking fishbone of a daughter would ever be so close to such a beast of a dragon. Something wasn't right about this picture to Dagur. Hiccup never seemed like the dragon killing type. And now, knowing then that the story of the trained dragons was true, he would have never guessed that she would be with a Nightfury. A Terrible Terror, maybe… but never something like that. _She must be the Dragon Conqueror..._ Dagur thought as he looked her over again.

It was then Dagur noticed something else. The water may have been murky, but he could still see her form underneath the surface… or a good amount of her, anyway. Hiccup was naked. Heat rushed to Dagur's face when he glanced at the shore and noticed clothes scattered around it. Wait, what? More weird things now? Back at home, Dagur had seen plenty of bodies (mostly ones he had carved with an axe, but they count) and all of a sudden Hiccup's bony form and small chest made him feel awkward yet… impressed. A slow smile formed on his face and his cheeks continued to turn pink as he watched her glide through the water lethargically.

In an effort to get closer, Dagur's palm slipped and pushed a rock off the Cliffside. It plummeted down and crashed onto the rough surface of the walls. This startled Hiccup and she turned to the source and started scanning up the cove's brim. In a slight panic, Dagur gingerly backed away from the edge. Hiccup's gaze focused on his form, unknown to him and scoffed. "I should have guessed…" She turned away from the wall. "Toothless, take care of him. Plasma blast." The dragon gazed at the brim himself, with his cat-like eyes and took aim at the shrinking silhouette of Dagur the Deranged.

_Did she see me?_ Dagur pondered, almost in a panic. He stopped backtracking when he walked into a tree. Breathing grew more difficult as the seconds passed and he sunk to sit against the trunk of the tree. What was wrong with him? He's seen things that were by far worse and yet seeing Hiccup nude was enough for him to lose all control of his knees and turn his face an embarrassing shade of red. This was more of a reaction than he had given any killing, any raid or any life threatening experience Dagur had taken part in. He could be in the middle of a bloodbath and eat not a minute later. Yet one chance of timing lead his stomach to quiver and threaten flipping over entirely.

A crackle grew closer and closer the shocked Dagur. He looked for the source and noted it to be a blazing purple flame that went out upon impact with the ground a few feet from him. Still shaken, the Berserker chief scrambled to his feet and dashed back into the woods.

A smirk grew on Hiccup's face as she waded into shallower waters. "Good job, bud." She patted the dragon on the head. "I'll handle him later." Hiccup glanced at the sun and shock formed on her face. "Oh no!" She ran out of the water and threw her clothes back on "I'd better get home and dry off; the feast is in less than an hour!" Hiccup sprinted towards the wall that was easiest to climb and looked back before she started to ascend. "I'll be back soon." She climbed up the wall once again and wringed out her soaked long hair before running back to the village, clenching onto herself for warmth in the cold autumn air.

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**Once again, thanks for reading; I hope you liked this chapter. Leave me a review if you want to tell me what you think so far. And if any of you have ideas for little things i could have Dagur and/or Hiccup do while this is still filler-ish, I'm open to them. I want to see what's going on in your heads too.**


	3. Weighing the Options

**I'm back~! Did you miss me?**

**Alright so, because of school winding down to it's last month or so, my life's probably going to be kind of hectic for awhile so I don't have a real update schedule right now. But I hope to update with at least one chapter every weekend, because that's really the only free time I have. Maybe I'll get lucky once in awhile and manage to get a chapter in during the week, if I have class in the computer lab and I finish my work early enough.**

**This chapter's a little shorter than the other ones, but it's really just a transition and a way to see (or my attempt at helping you see) what's going through Hiccup and Dagur's minds after what happened last chapter. Dagur's part is a little short too but everything should be tied up on his end a little later on.**

**Oh, and thank you SO much for all of the favorites/follows and reviews I got for this story. It makes me really happy to see that people like what goes on in my messed up mind. :)**

**Now, I'll get out of your way and let you read... **

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After a grueling trip through the all but frozen air, Hiccup entered her home with icicles forming over her hair and clothes and her lips becoming speckled with a shade of blue. She shuddered as she stepped up the stairs and entered her bedroom, to change into something dry: her greatly oversized night shirt. Taking her still dripping clothes with her, she sped back downstairs and stopped in front of the fire that was still burning in the fire pit. She laid her clothes in front of the blaze for them to dry and threw three fleece blankets over herself, in an effort to heat back up as soon as she could. She blew into her chilled hands and rubbed them together until she could feel the friction begin to give off some warmth.

"What an idiot I am..." Hiccup stuttered between shivers that rocked her whole body "Swimming this close to winter; how dumber can I get? But… it was fun…" She looked away from the blaze and pouted "Until that pervert Dagur showed up; he thinks I won't be able to see him hiding behind some sticks? It's not spring…" She snarled at the thoughts that raced through her mind. _How long had he been there? How much did he see? _And, more importantly, _What am I going to do now that he knows about Toothless? _

That last thought gripped her mind like the snow that imprisoned Berk annually. It was her job, her one job besides be on time to the docks and the Great Hall, and she blew it because of her boredom. _How am I going to explain this to Dad?_ Hiccup winced as she continued to attack herself mentally over her stupidity. All the times she was yelled at for not following orders all re-appeared in her memory, after she finally thought she was rid of them for good. "If Dagur takes advantage of this, we're all screwed…"

Hiccup was pulled from her thoughts by a knock at the door. She grumbled to herself as she rose from her spot on the floor, taking the blankets with her, and opened the door to welcome the cold back to the few parts of her that weren't shrouded in fleece. She cringed at the brisk air but smiled at who she saw on the other side. "Hey, Astrid." She gestured for her guest to enter, closing the door behind them.

"I thought you'd be back from hiding by now." The blond girl's smirk transitioned to concern when she looked her friend over "Why is there ice in your hair? And why are you shaking so much?"

Hiccup finally realized that her quivering hadn't ceased, even in the growing heat from under the blankets. She should have stopped somewhat by then, right? Maybe it was from opening the door. "Well, uh…" she stuttered as she made her way back before the fire "I was at the cove with Toothless and I… fell in the pond."

"You're sure you fell in?" Astrid playfully punched her companion's bony shoulder with a chuckle, causing Hiccup to flinch.

"Alright…" the brunette sighed "I had him heat up the water and we went for a swim…"

"Swimming? In Berk? With winter about three weeks away?" the blond rolled her eyes "Yeah, that sounds like you."

"It was stupid; I know." Hiccup admitted "But I needed SOME way to relax."

"Why do you think I was with Stormfly for awhile before coming back here? I think we're all trying to find ways to avoid Dagur these days." Astrid sat next to Hiccup and glanced at the spreading embers of the fire pit.

"That's just it…" Hiccup gulped "He's the new Berserker chief. His dad… retired."

Astrid's mouth was left agape "What?"

"Yeah and… he followed me…" Hiccup curled up in her cocoon of fabric "He saw me with Toothless. I don't know what to do about him; he's probably going to tell everyone exactly what he saw today at the feast." She looked at her friend, concern clear on her features "Astrid, I don't want to think about what would happen if he does."

"You don't know he will for sure." Astrid nearly whispered "Maybe he won't say anything."

"Why would he do that?" Hiccup barked back "The guy sees the elusive Nightfury. Trained. By me. This proves the "trained dragon" theory that he had when he showed up. Why wouldn't he say anything? He'll probably blackmail us with it or something." She buried her face in her knees "Why'd I let this happen? This is a disaster."

Hiccup felt caring hands slip onto her shoulders as Astrid scooted closer to her. "I know you, Hiccup." She soothed "You'll come up with something."

"I hope so…" Hiccup mumbled under her breath.

Astrid stood "I'd better get back to where we're holding the dragons. It's only a matter of time before Snotlout or Tuffnut tries something for fun and wrecks everything."

Hiccup giggled "Yeah, that'd probably be best. Dagur already knows, but… we don't want any confirmation."

"Right." Astrid stopped at the door before looking back, over her shoulder. "And I know you think better when you're alone. So I'm going to let you think of a way to avoid this mess."

Hiccup nodded in response "Thanks for listening, Astrid."

"No problem. What are friends for?" With a smile, the Hofferson girl left the daughter of the chief alone with her thoughts.

Near aimlessly, Dagur wandered Berk's forest while shock still slightly showed on his face. Thank the gods his blushing had subsided and he could finally walk straight, again after that close encounter with the Nightfury and the… interesting state of its apparent tamer.

Pacing the muddy pathway, Dagur muttered to himself "Berk's worst Viking ever… is the Dragon Conqueror?!" The Berserker chief removed his axe from its place on his back and chucked it at a nearby tree. He grunted with rage as he effortlessly removed it. "How could that, that… girl possibly possess the ability to so much as attempt that?!" He sent the axe through the seemingly thickening air once again, this time managing to get it snagged in the base of a rock.

Dagur paused to take a breath and attempt to belittle his rage. Though a ruthless warrior, he knew that too much emotion clouded the ability to judge and strategize; something he still needed obvious help with controlling.

Upon removing his weapon, the rock fell apart into two halves. Dagur spit to the side as he inspected the blade, seeing no chips or cracks. "No matter. She saw me, no doubt." He peered up at the cloud infested sky "This ought to be interesting…"

Without another thought, Dagur the Deranged began his stroll back to the village. Now having some down time in the village before the feast, he figured he might as well try to find Berk's little "Dragon Conqueror" and see what he could pry out of her himself.

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**So... as usual, I hope you liked this chapter. Leave me a review if you want to tell me what you think so far. And, again, more on Dagur's perspective will be in the next chapter. Maybe we'll see some more characters. I don't know, I come up with most of this stuff as I write it and stick to a set of plot points I made out for this.**


	4. The Feast

**Yay, new chapter~!**

**Sorry I didn't update over the past weekend, guys. I had SAT's on Saturday and my cousin had her Communion on Sunday and those things just completely drained me and ate up all my time to write. Ugh, life... -_-**

**I hope this chapter makes up for it, though. I, thankfully, had less homework than usual tonight so I could wrap this chapter up. **

**The only warning I have on this one (if you can even call it that) is the mentioning of alcohol and getting drunk (maybe some dirty thoughts from Dagur, depending on how you interpret this...)**

**Anyway~ thanks again for the favorites, follows and reviews. Every one of them makes me smile. :) **

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Nearly all of the remaining hour before the feast passed before Hiccup's body had felt truly thawed out and the ice on her hair melted and finally dried, for the most part. Replacing her night-shirt with her now dried clothes welcomed the chill back to her skin, after sitting inside the sauna her body heat had created underneath her fleece cocoon. Hiccup sighed in defeat when Dagur came into her mind once again. She'd have to face him any minute and, with her luck, he'd be interrogating her as if she was a prisoner to the Berserkers. For sure, that would be about the dragons and… she didn't really want to think of what else could be in his mind. Unwillingly, she stepped back outside and began to make her way to the Great Hall. She may have completely wrecked the secrecy of the dragons that she was put in charge of keeping, but the least she could do was be on time to the event and, hopefully, not screw anything else up.

Dagur's journey back to the village was rather uneventful, after his temper subsided and his mind finally cleared. He had come to Berk, not only to renew his father's ridiculous treaty, but to acquire knowledge on the Dragon Conqueror and, by Thor, he found what he came for. He had over-powered Stoick's runt of a girl countless times before and he was sure he could use that power to learn even more from her. Her scrawny frame stood no match for his brute strength and expertise of combat using any weapon, including his bare fists. The Berseker relished the thought as he relived the memories of dominating just about every teen on Berk, mainly Hiccup and her rather pathetic friend Fishlegs, who were the most fun to watch squirm free of his torturous entertainment. He chuckled when he thought of the rotten cod heads he had let ferment for three days before he forced them down the husky blonde boy's throat and laughed at his suffering as it replayed in his mind.

Of course, being the chief of the tribe didn't allow for as much fun with Hiccup and her pals as he'd had in past years. But he would arrange for it now that he knew the story of the dragon army his supposed allies had been amassing. Interrogation would begin once he could find one of them... starting with Hiccup. He entered the village basically unnoticed and walked among the resident Vikings on his way to the square. There is when he began to turn heads, as he normally did. It was pretty easy to distinguish the young Berserker from the Vikings on Berk. Dagur may have been smaller than most of these Vikings, in both the size and weight categories, but the way he carried himself just emitted intimidation. Though, Dagur also noticed something odd about the square. The place seemed less busy than he remembered from the years prior. Some shops were even closed all-together, which confused him to an extent. Then, he thought about who ran each of the closed establishments and suddenly became aware of the time.

_Odin's beard!_ He thought before he increased his pace. It was nearly time to sign the treaty at the feast! The time had completely slipped away from him in the forests and now he was going to be late for his first treaty signing on Berk! _Way to make a start as chief, Dagur. _He beat himself up about his still new duties as he took more frequent steps through the plaza and finally had the Great Hall in his sights. He was slightly relieved to see Vikings still flowing inside the building and some of his guards waiting by the door. _At least no one's looking for me…_ he thought as he sighed and his rushed strides slowed to his norm.

_Where was I? _He mentally continued as he proceeded. _Oh yes, what to do about our little dragon conqueror? _A sinister smirk grew on his face and he started to ascend the stairway to the hall. _Perhaps I should get her alone after the feast. As few witnesses as possible. I want answers and I'll get them if it's the last thing I do on this island. _Then, all at once, the young chief's gaze was shifted to a slim figure with a head of long, auburn hair making a mad dash to the hall. _Hiccup?_ Dagur's legs froze and his forest green eyes locked on the girl's tiny frame until she entered the fortress and vanished from his sights.

Slowly, Dagur regained control of his limbs and his eyes re-focused, almost in a panic. "Not this again…" he mumbled "What's going on with me? Last time I was here, I could hardly stand her. Now…"

"Where have you been, sir?" Dagur's thoughts left him when one of his guards called out to him. "We were beginning to worry."

Dagur glanced inside and noticed Hiccup was just on the other side of the thick wooden doors and turned to the guard in question. "There is no need to worry about me." He proclaimed, head held high "I'm Dagur the Deranged, remember. The very sound of my name sends Vikings running." He reached behind him and took a dagger from his belt, twirling it between his fingers "Or do I have to demonstrate?"

"Of course not, high chief sir." The guard bowed and entered the building with his companion.

Dagur went to follow with a smirk; then he noticed Hiccup was no longer within listening distance. His face fell a little as he carried on his way inside. _Wait, what am I doing? I don't care what she thinks!_ He shook off his wave of despair with ease and made his way to the head of the table that had been decorated with plentiful plates of meats and massive mugs of alcohol. His strides slowed when he passed the heir of Berk, taking her seat beside her father and clearly avoiding eye contact with him. Unfazed by the act, the Berserker chief took his seat between his fellow leader and his brother, giving them both a greeting.

"Did you enjoy your walk, Dagur?" Stoick asked.

"Oh, yes…" Dagur stated in a slightly suggestive tone that made Hiccup look away from him. Dagur smirked "What's the matter, Hiccup?"

"Oh, everything's peachy." Hiccup sarcastically spat back.

Stoick glanced from one teen to the other and rolled his eyes. _ Always picking fights, as usual… _He rose from his seat and held a mug of mead up. Upon his rising, the room slowly silenced and all eyes turned to the chief. He cleared his throat. "Thank you everyone for attending this year's Berserker feast. I would like to propose a toast to the retired Oswald the Agreeable."

"To Oswald!" The group of Vikings before him proclaimed, now standing as well and holding up their mugs. Dagur reluctantly stood and rolled his eyes, bored by the honors that became monotone by how often they were bestowed on his father, even in his absence. _What about me? _He silently drolled _I'm the one that showed up to sign the damn thing._

Stoick continued to command all attention as he bellowed "I would also like to toast to fifty more years of peace between us and the Berserkers, as they have been one of our greatest in this time!"

The crowd erupted with applause, cheers and the sound of mugs being slammed on the table after a massive gulp was taken from them, which Dagur took part in. Wiping foam from his upper lip, he peered over to Hiccup, who simply stood and clapped, nearly silent compared to the uproar that had sounded a moment prior. Dagur nearly forgot that she was still too young to chug down the thick drink like all of the other Vikings, though he was sure that she already had at one point or more. Not that he thought she would have good tolerance to it anyway. How much alcohol could someone as small as her swig down before she was drunk out of her mind? Probably not a lot, in Dagur's mind.

_Maybe I could use that to an advantage point too… _the Berserker mulled over. _Eh, she should be easy enough to handle sober._ He glanced at the giant kegs of mead on the far wall. _That probably means I should stay that way too…_

When the shouts of excitement had finally subsided, it was when the group of Vikings had begun to stuff their faces with the food that once, almost elegantly, sat upon their dishes. The noises of meat being torn from the bones that soon clattered onto wood and metal filled the space with a hearty melody that had no rhythm but was somehow pleasant to hear. Maybe it was only because the noise drowned out Dagur's own thoughts for some time and allowed him to forget his mental conflict over what to do about Hiccup by taking part in some simple conversation.

After scarving down every morsel they could, the treaty was signed, rather uneventfully to Dagur because of the lacking dragon's blood. About an hour had passed before men began to exit the hall, some struggling to stay upright due to their alcohol consumption. Dagur chuckled sinisterly when he saw a man with a bucket on his head trip over his own feet and just barely caught himself on the door. Stoick rose from his place after leaning over to Hiccup and whispering something in her ear, to which she only nodded in response. Dagur watched the motion carefully and waited until the girl's father had disappeared into the crowd before sliding into his seat and began to play with a discarded knife.

"So, Hiccup…" He began "Interesting run-in in the forest, huh?" a smirk formed on his face.

Berk's heiress scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Maybe for you. Stalker much?" she mumbled, trying not to draw attention to the two of them.

"I think we need to talk."

"Well, I don't think we do." Hiccup rose and started for the exit.

Dagur lowly growled and jabbed the knife into the tabletop. He went after the girl, having a problem weaving through the crowds that she squeezed through effortlessly. It was as if no one even acknowledged that she was there. In times like this, being small was a great advantage the Dagur no longer had at his disposal. For a moment, he lost sight of Hiccup but regained it when he finally escaped the maze of people and saw her speed walking down the steps. Slowly, he followed her down and closely monitored where she was going. If Dagur was going to do what he thought he was going to do, he had better do that part of the interrogation with as few witnesses too. He pursued her from a distance, making their way through the square and back toward the forests, much to Dagur's relief. Hiccup was making this almost too easy for him.

He glanced around one last time. _This is it. _He thought. _Now or Never._ Without a second thought, Dagur dashed toward Hiccup, who spun around at the sound of his footsteps enclosing the distance between them. The slightest shade of pink formed on Dagur's cheeks at the sight of her hair flipping when she turned to him. At least it didn't faze him to the point he couldn't carry out his actions.

Before Hiccup could comprehend what had happened, or even scream, Dagur had thrown her over his shoulder, much to her displeasure. Not only because she was being whisked off into the forests by Dagur, but every time his feet touched the ground she would be shaken as his body hopped with the friction and her efforts to wiggle free became futile as she was overcome with nausea. She had to admit that kidnapping her like this directly after she'd eaten wasn't too bad of a plan. Then again, why did she always have to credit her enemies when they got the upper hand on her?

Dagur stopped his rampage through the woods to evaluate his surroundings and deemed them acceptable for his needs. Just as quickly as he'd propped her up on his shoulder, he brought Hiccup down before him. "I think we're talking." Dagur stated "Now the, Hiccup… tell me…" Dagur shortened the distance between them. Hiccup slightly flinched.

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**Interpret this as you will. I'll let you guys think about what might happen next for a few days (maybe a week, if homework keeps me away) before I update again. Have fun~!**


	5. Confrontation

**Hello again, my readers~! So.. sorry about where I left last chapter off; I honestly just wanted to laugh at what people would come up with. I got my wish, so thank you mintsoff for that. :P**

**While I'm on that, thanks again for all of the reviews, follows and favorites! It means a lot to me, really!**

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"Now then, Hiccup… tell me…" Dagur shortened the distance between them.

Hiccup slightly flinched. She gulped and glanced from side to side, looking for an escape to no avail. She looked back up at Dagur, who was bearing the same menacing grin as he did before she became his personal knife-throwing target, the last time her deranged companion visited Berk. Then, it hit her like a bag of rocks. She was alone with him, where no one could see him attack her, or worse. And, judging by the amount of time she was thrown over his shoulder for, no one would hear her yell either. She couldn't count the times she'd been defeated in a fight against Dagur and, just like then, he always pinned her down while giving her that grimace and stabbing her chest with his piercing green eyes that reeked of terror.

The heir to Berk couldn't even call for her dragon. There was almost no doubt that he would take the black beast down if he were interfere with whatever the young chief was about to pull on Hiccup. It was pointless to put Toothless in danger too, if she didn't need to. There would also be no point in calling someone who probably couldn't help her, or that would alert her captor of a threat. For the first time, since she lost her leg to the Red Death, Hiccup truly felt pinned in a corner.

"About that dragon of yours. That's a Night Fury, right?" The Berserker intrigued.

Hiccup's mind raced faster than it ever had before. _Ok, calm down… _she encouraged herself. _Just think. What does he want to know about Toothless so badly for? _Her tension eased slowly as she came to a choice that might assist her. For the time being, she decided to remain silent and just listen to what he wanted to say. Maybe he'd give her an opening to make an escape.

Dagur started taking more steps forward. Hiccup backed away with every advance. "It sure seemed like you were close to the thing when you were in the pond." Hiccup's face became dusted with a pink tint, from a feeling mixed with rage and embarrassment. "I mean, who can ask the unholy offspring of lightning and death to heat up some water for them… unless they strike fear in it?" He continued "You're the Dragon Conqueror, aren't you?" Hiccup stayed quiet and an awkward silence began between them. Dagur grew increasingly impatient as the seconds ticked by, showing plain on his face as a glare formed from his nasty grin. "You and I both know I saw you with the Night Fury, fishbone. Now we can do this the easy way…" He reached for his axe and pulled it from its holster "Or the hard way."

Hiccup crossed her arms, keeping her usual poker face in play as well as she could. She drummed her fingers on her forearm and simply gazed at Dagur, trying to find his angle on this. Why did he want her to admit it so badly? He saw her with the most dangerous dragon Vikings knew of… that was still alive, anyway. What more proof would someone like him need to just be satisfied with a bit of knowledge? _He must be doing this with something else in mind…_ Hiccup pondered. She wondered what the cost of exposing herself would be. Or, even better, what the cost would be if she didn't.

"Where are your sassy comebacks? Give me some answers, Haddock!" Dagur commanded. He rose his axe slowly but, suddenly, it fell back to his side and nearly fell from his grip. His expression of anger softened some as he scanned Hiccup's features. Although her stoic expression would say otherwise, he could tell that she was scared. Looking at the thick forests within her eyes, Dagur saw pain that she was near perfectly holding back. He noticed her arms fall back to her sides and she balled her fists. His bloodlust seemed to fade in that instant.

Hiccup noticed his anger subside and let her fists unfold themselves. She studied him quizzically, expecting him to leap back to his previous state that she often compared to talking to a rock. Instead, he let his axe fall to the dirt and he stared blankly at the girl before him.

_Wait a minute… we're alone._ Dagur went to pick up his weapon, but couldn't bring himself to move his gaze that was centered right in Hiccup's eyes.

As the seconds passed on, Hiccup's uneasiness came from a different source. The intensity in Dagur's eyes dissipated more with each slight movement either of them made, with every breath they took. In an effort to break the staring contest, Hiccup glanced form side to side again, then back at Dagur. He seemed… almost like he was lost in a weird daydream. His eyes began to haze over and his blank face only became bleaker as she peered up at him. She decided to take the opportunity while she had it and side-stepped out of his direct vision, before starting back toward the village.

When the girl left his sight, Dagur was pulled from his numbed state with a barely audible gasp. "Hiccup." Dagur called under his breath and, upon pure instinct, gripped her hands with the rapid reflexes he'd already expressed when he carried her off.

Hiccup quickly turned back to him, her face turning sour. "Let go, Dagur." She commanded "I don't know what kind of game this is, but I'm done."

"We're not done here." Dagur replied, in an equally serious tone. There was a silence once more. More intense staring and insincerity fell upon the pair. Their breaths intensified; Hiccup's out of annoyance and Dagur's… out of fear. For the first time in a long while, Dagur the Deranged felt a touch of fear fall upon him.

_You're alone with her… _an inner voice called to him _Do something about it, stupid._ To this thought, Dagur's hold on Hiccup's hands loosened but still held firm.

Hiccup opened her mouth to speak; but not before a distant roar sounded from Toothless. The dragon sounded angry, even distressed as his rider turned toward his cries. A sudden vibration erupted from under their feet and intensified as the source grew closer. Cracks in the ground formed like veins across the surface. Hiccup watched the patterns and grew panicked when they crept closer and closer to herself and Dagur. After struggling with his tight grip, she broke free and pushed the two of them apart. They both fell on their backs as a hole formed where they were standing and, out of the newly-formed crevice with a roar, came a raging Whispering Death.

"For the love of Thor…" Hiccup mumbled.

She stood and began to run in Toohless' direction. Hearing the dragon on its hunt roar in the growing distance and a battle cry follow it, she turned back to see Dagur ready his axe for a swing at the Whispering Death's throat. She dashed toward him and gripped the weapon with all her might, pulling it down as best as she could. The Berserker gave her a confused glare.

"You're not killing it." She stated.

"Then what do you suggest we do, get eaten?!"

Hiccup released Dagur's axe and strode between him and the dragon. She slowly motioned toward the Whispering Death, holding out her hand. It let out a deep growl and its razor sharp teeth began to spin in its mouth, hinting at an incoming attack. "It's ok… I'm not going to hurt you…" Hiccup soothed "I'm a friend." She smiled. The dragon's expression grew tenser as Hiccup's hand inched closer to its nose.

Dagur watched in awe of the sight before him. The rumors he'd been in search for the truth of were coming even more to life, before his eyes. Not only had Stoick the Vast's embarrassment tame a Night Fury, but now she was in the process of conquering a Whispering Death! It was a wonder to the berserker that so small a girl could so much as dare to approach these beasts unarmed and with so much serenity about their aura. Hiccup was totally calm this whole time, she was so sure of every move she made ever so cautiously. His mouth slowly gaped as Hiccup touched her palm to the monster's nose and it let out a snort.

Seeing the dragon calmed, a grin crept across Hiccup's face. After the dragon had previously eluded her, she finally managed to train such a dangerous dragon species to trust her enough to accept human contact. It relaxed under her touch, clear as day in its eyes oriented for the darkness. "Here," she pulled some dragon nip from on of her pockets and held it out. "You'll love this… all dragons love this." Though hesitantly, the dragon accepted the nip and relaxed even more so. Hiccup's hand parted from its face and the Whispering Death disappeared back under ground as the sun began to peek out from its veil of grey clouds.

Slowly, Hiccup turned to Dagur, her poker face back in action as she did so. "Now you know. Satisfied yet?"


	6. The Conqueror's Story

**Hello again, everyone! I had some free time this weekend, so I actually got this chapter done sooner than I thought I would, yay~!**

**I'm going to take this chapter as an opportunity to say that I am working on another fanfiction now and the first chapter's about a third done. It's going to be a Hijack/Frostcup fanfiction so, if you're into that ship, be on the lookout for it. I think it's going to be pretty cool.**

**And, because of this new fanfic I'm working on, updates will probably be less frequent because I've decided that I'm going to do a trade off system between the two. Like, I update this fanfic, then I update the other one next kind of deal. I won't forget about this fanfic, I promise. It's really fun for me to write, especially now since it's getting closer to the main idea... (character development sucks...)**

**And, as always, thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows. They make me squee and flail like a moron. And I hope you like this new chapter.**

**Oh, and... I'm kind of iffy about what I did with Dagur here. I don't know what exactly, but I'm not totally satisfied with how he behaves... and maybe Hiccup too. Tell me if I made them too OOC, ok? If they are, I'll totally try to fix it because I don't want them to seem too far from their canon selves.**

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"Now you know. Satisfied yet?" Hiccup plainly asked as she turned back to Dagur, hands folded together. Her messy auburn hair was ruffled out of place by the breeze, her bangs gently brushing against her face.

"How is it that _you_, of all the Vikings around here, are the Dragon Conqueror?!" Dagur questioned.

"First of all, it's Dragon Trainer." Hiccup corrected "Second of all, I don't really think that's any of your business, now is it?"

"It is now that you've revealed it to me." The Berserker gripped his axe tighter. "Tell me how, in Odin's name, the most useless Viking I've ever seen became the one to tame dragons?!"

Useless… a word Hiccup thought had finally eluded her for favor of a better title. _Hiccup the Useless... I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That HELPED. _The mocks echoed in her head upon hearing the word uttered once again. _Every time you step outside, disaster follows! Can't you see I have bigger problems?_ Even her father tended to downgrade her abilities… or lack of them… from time to time. She knew he loved her, but almost any Viking would have been ashamed to be related to her before she took down the Red Death. Even gaining such a title as "Dragon Conqueror," as false as it was to her talents, couldn't cover up fifteen years of being called such names overnight.

"I'm not useless…" Hiccup muttered, clenching a fist. "If I'm so useless, how come I did it?!" She shouted. Somewhere in her sentence, her voice cracked with pain. She looked away and a scowl appeared on her face.

Dagur just stared in insincerity at the girl before him. Hiccup was upset and, for the first time, he wasn't brought joy from her angry expression. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Guilt came over him and he too looked away, but his eyes soon trailed back to her. Strangely, Hiccup looked almost… cute in this state. The way her nose crinkled and how the forests in her eyes were set ablaze in an instant. The Berserker couldn't bring himself to rest his gaze anywhere else, so he planted it upon Hiccup's freckled face.

There was an instant, very quickly, where Hiccup's eyes moved to Dagur and they locked with his own emerald irises. But she swiftly darted her eyes in another direction and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, I'm going back to the village, now that you figured out what was oh-so important that you had to carry into the woods to do so." Hiccup stated as she turned back toward the village, peering back at Dagur over her shoulder. "Unless, of course, you want to try to kill me or throw a knife at my head?"

Dagur looked down at the axe in his hands and back at Hiccup's retreating form. His expression rapidly became serious as he gripped it tighter and rushed after her, careful not to make a sound. In one hasty move, he grabbed Hiccup's hands, grasping both of them with just one of his own, and holding the axe to her neck. "Now you're just asking for it." He growled "You're telling me exactly how you managed to do it."

Hiccup let out a sigh. "You'd really kill me?"

"What part if this situation doesn't imply that?"

"Well, if how I trained the dragons is so important to you, the last thing you would do is kill me. After all, I'm the only one that knows the whole story. So you'd destroy your chance at finding out, wouldn't you?" Hiccup smirked up at her captor.

Dagur let out a strange mix between a snarl and a sigh when he lowered his axe from her neck. "Fine, you got me there." With another sudden motion, Dagur took the leather wrapped around his right arm and used it to bind Hiccup's hands together. "But you're not going anywhere until I find out." He tied the other end to the belt that kept one of his shoulder pads in place and put his hands on his hips.

"Is this really necessary?" Hiccup protested.

"Yes." Dagur responded.

Hiccup rolled her eyes. "If I'm going to be stuck with you, we should at least go somewhere else. You know, where the wild dragons won't attack us now that I'm tied to you and can't protect you from them?"

"You think I need a girl like you to protect me?" Dagur called back. The two sat in a stalemate of serious stares, neither one's gaze breaking for even a second, until Dagur sighed in exasperation. "Alright. Come on then, fishbone." He turned and proceeded deeper into the woods, dragging Hiccup along. She scoffed at the nickname he'd adopted for her over the years and reluctantly followed him, having to jog in order to keep up with him and prevent her tether from pulling her into the mud.

The pair came to a rest atop a hill overlooking the cove. Hiccup gazed over the landscape in slight wonder, through the baring trees didn't make for much of a sight to behold. She would never tire of the views of the sun on its daily cycle that Berk was blessed with. It seemed that there was a different sight to take in on every high point of the small island, through the basics of the visual always remained constant. It would take a lifetime to see every solar spectacle the island could behold to the eyes. She looked down into the cove and barely saw Toothless' black body curled into a ball on the ground and assumed that he was sleeping soundly. Even in the fading daylight, she could plainly see the dragon suited for the night when he was out of his camouflage.

"Will this be good enough?" Dagur interrupted.

"Yeah." Hiccup answered before taking a seat on a rock behind them.

"Now I want my answers." Dagur stated. "I had better get them."

"Ok, ok; no need to threaten me. I'm pretty sure you got me at your mercy by now." The girl's mouth leaked sarcasm as she continued "I mean you totally took down that Whispering Death and didn't back down because a ninety pound girl told you so."

"Skip your stupid comments and get to what I want to hear." The Berserker barked back.

"Your wish is my command, oh slayer of beasts." Hiccup mockingly continued. She took a deep breath and looked at Dagur, who had taken a seat beside her. "I shot Toothless down into the woods awhile back. I went to find out if I really did and, when I found him… I wouldn't kill him."

Dagur tried to hold back a laugh. Unfortunately, he was less than successful in doing so and chortled. "Hold on, you're trying to say that the reason you did all of this because you _wouldn't _kill a dragon?"

"I wouldn't!" Hiccup proclaimed. "Yes, make fun of me all you want. I'm the first Viking in three hundred years who wouldn't kill a dragon. That must come as such a shock to someone as bloodthirsty as you."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Dagur chuckled, still finding her previous statement amusing.

Hiccup rolled her eyes again and continued "I made Toothless a new tail fin, because I destroyed one of his natural ones when I knocked him out of the sky. I learned about him and how to ride him and… everything just fell into place. That's all there is to it."

Dagur inched closer, interested in her tale. "And the Red Death?"

"Everyone would have been killed unless I took care of it. Then…" Hiccup tapped her prosthetic against the grass. "I got something to remember that experience by…"

There was a pause between them. "That can't be all there is." Dagur announced after pondering the story back in his head.

"What do you want me to do?" Hiccup protested. "Look back at my memories of it and tell you how tall the grass was and how far from winter we were at the time?"

"Now that would just be boring." Dagur moaned.

"It would." She held out her wrists to him. "Now, if you would be so kind as to untie me, I'd like to go home."

Dagur glanced between the leather wrapping Hiccup's hands tightly and her eyes that once more caught his attention. He snickered. "Why wouldn't you want to stay out here longer? You've already been out here all day, might as well let the moon come out."

"Now you're just testing me."

"Come on…" Dagur sighed and looked back down at the bindings on her wrists. Slowly, carefully, he released her. Hiccup rubbed her wrists with a tiny wince. Then… Dagur said something he never thought he'd hear himself utter. "Please?"

Hiccup gazed in awe at the Berserker chief. Since when did Dagur the Deranged ever use his manners? Though his exact intentions confused Hiccup, the look in his eyes was sincere. He wanted her to remain with him… but why? Since when did he _like_ to spend time with her? It seemed like she and her friends were just his crash dummies and targets every other time he'd visited Berk. Now, suddenly, he seemed like a different person. His apple green irises shined with hope and the slightest smile was worn in place of his usual grimace. Hiccup couldn't describe it, but she somehow believed that he really did want to spend more time with her.

She mulled over what decision she would finally state to him. Of course, she had to carefully word any answer. After all, the man was armed and, boy, did he have a skill for using that to his advantage at every chance so far. Minding her train of thought, she hadn't realized that her eyes had been fixed on him for Odin knows how long. She quickly turned her eyes away and cleared her throat. "I guess I could stay awhile longer."

"Excellent." Dagur clapped his hands together, attempting to retract his strange excitement at that moment. "So tell me…" Dagur scooted closer to her. "How _did_ you teach that Night Fury to heat up the lake for you, again?"

Hiccup let out a small gasp and blushed. "Can you not bring that up anymore?"

Between the two, time seemed to rush by blindly, once they got into conversation. The sun, being the only indication that time was even still moving, didn't matter to the pair of youths bantering away on the hilltop. Hiccup enthused her companion of the adventures she and Toothless had been on since they met and Dagur bragged about the ways he desired to bring his tribe "back to its former glory." They also discussed simpler topics, like the Berserkers' ride into Berk and the latest issues at the dragon academy. Hours passed before Hiccup's auburn hair gave any further indication to the time. The setting sun had always given her normally brown locks a fiery tint that made it seem as though she was sitting on the sun itself. Noticing her hair's change in color, Dagur peered at the sky and noticed it was painted with warm oranges and violets and that the sun was slowly becoming less visible, sliding below the line of the ocean that was almost completely covered by the dying foliage in front of them.

Hiccup too noticed the position of the sun and rose from her place on the stone with a stretch. "Now, I had better get home." She declared as she began to walk back toward the village. She stopped and looked back at Dagur, over her shoulder. "You know, this was actually nice. Who would have thought you were nice to talk to, once your weapons were put away?"

"You're surprised?" Dagur raised an eyebrow and rose from the rock as well. "We've talked before today, you know?"

"I know." Hiccup remarked "But, for once, you didn't sound like a raging dragon that was about to attack me."

"Oh…" Dagur looked away for a moment before advancing towards Hiccup. As he got closer, he noticed her eyes were directed at the darkening tints of orange and purple in the sky behind him. "Like sunsets?" He asked.

"Yeah. One of the few good things on this island is the view of the sunsets we get."

The sun was over half covered by the horizon when Dagur looked out as well. Dark blues and hints of black were beginning to bleed into the fading lights. He looked back at Hiccup, who was within feet of him, and felt his mouth slowly pull itself into a miniscule grin. There was something about her in that light that once again caught his attention and clearly wasn't going to go away as it got darker.

"Let's get out of here before it gets dark." Dagur commanded. "I'm not getting lost and freezing to death."

"Probably a good idea." Hiccup responded.

The two began their descent from the hilltop, side by side. Dagur nudged his elbow into Hiccup's along the way. Whether it was intentional or not, neither of them really knew… or noticed, for that matter. The walk back was silent, to a point. About halfway back to the village, the pair noticed the faint light of a torch light in the distance.

"What kind of idiot would be in the woods now?" Dagur muttered.

"I don't think we should be talking." Hiccup ironically replied.

They watched the light close in on them for a few seconds. Then, a voice called out. "Hiccup? Hiccup?!" It was Stoick.


	7. Separated By the Stoick Dusk

**New chapter! And this one's actually kind of long, I'm proud of myself~! **

**Sorry this one's a little late, I only got it up today because I did some work on my final study guides and studied a little bit earlier. But, after next week, updates will probably become more frequent because I'll be officially done with school after then. That's something to look forward to, right? **

**Thanks so much again for all of the reviews and follows/favorites. And thank you to the people that gave me their opinions about my characterizations of Hiccup and Dagur. I'm REALLY trying to keep them both as in character as possible. So, if there's ever an instance where they seem really OOC, let me know in a review so I can fix it, please? I'd appreciate it. (But I hope I helped that problem in this chapter...)**

**Also, I'd like to say happy late birthday to LaurenJr. Sorry I didn't have the time to post this update on your birthday; I hope this is good enough. :/**

**Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. I'm actually kind of proud of this one. :)**

* * *

Oh, Thor, it was Stoick. Of course, the two of them were finally on good terms with each other and the moment just _had _to be ruined.

"Oh, the gods hate me…" Hiccup sighed under her breath. If her father caught the two of them the way that they were, anything but peace could come from it. Her mind raced with the worst thoughts of an argument between the three Vikings in the forest, of said fight getting physical, even to the death, and Berk and Berserk ending their fifty years of peace and waging into war over the proposed death of a chief (or one to be), all because Berserk's chief was caught in a bad spot at the wrong time with Berk's young heir to the throne.

Maybe she was blowing it all out of proportion a little, but there was no doubt that Stoick would be beyond angry if he came across the scene. How many options could there possibly be when it came to reasons for the basic situation to occur: a boy and a girl out in the middle of the woods. Alone. At near dusk? Not many situations existed there and nearly all of them lead to some reason for Stoick to unleash every bit of his immense strength on both of them.

Somehow, Hiccup calmed her mind enough to ponder their position carefully and come up with the best escape route for them both. Running wouldn't work at all; running is only for the guilty. Fighting was completely un-called for and there was no doubt that any excuse she came up with would be ruined by none other than she, herself; Hiccup was never the best at lying, especially to her father. She recalled the event when she tried to hide the fact that she was training Toothless and barely got away from the awkward conversation, because of Stoick mistaking her nerves for those of placing first in dragon training.

Then, something dawned on her. She gripped Dagur's wrist, claiming his attention. "Go hide in the bushes." She whispered with haste.

"What?" Dagur scoffed "I'm not scared of him."

"You will be if he sees us and gets the wrong idea." Hiccup stated. "Trust me; the man beheaded a dragon at the shoulders when he was a baby."

"Lots of Vikings have done that." Dagur protested "Let's just go. If you're any good at stealth, he'll never see us." He then started slinking through the brush that had been masking them at the moment.

Hiccup smacked her palm to her forehead and slid it down her face. _Does he want us to get spotted or something? _She mentally grumbled.

Stoick's calls for her rang louder as he enclosed on them. Without much thought, Hiccup darted through the brush, as quietly as she could, and caught up to her companion, who she began to question in strategizing escape plans. The glow of her father's torch grew larger and Hiccup began to make out Stoick's features as his silhouette took a bolder form in the dimmed light. In a slight panic, Hiccup seized Dagur's lack of attention on her as a chance to throw him off balance with a swift kick to his knees and pushed him into the nearby brush.

It was then that their cover was basically blown. Dagur's weight hitting the ground was quite loud, despite most of him being sent into the mud. Part of it might have had to do with the weapons that he had on him impacting with branches and the ground on his way down. And, if the fall didn't cause Stoick to turn around, it was his annoyed grumbling before Hiccup hastily shh'd him. The flickering torch was waved about by Berk's chief, in an effort to find the source of the sounds he had just heard.

It was then that Hiccup casually walked into the illumination casted in front of their hiding place. "Hey, dad. What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I've been looking for you." The large man responded. "We have an issue with the dragons by the cove. Astrid and Fishlegs can't seem to calm them."

"Did something spook them?" Hiccup inquired.

"I have no idea. They'll need your help to get them to settle down or the Berserkers could find them."

Hiccup rubbed her neck nervously. _Well, there's no chance of total shock from them… _she thought as she turned her gaze from her father's face. She glanced swiftly back at the bushes where she had pushed Dagur out of sight. To her relief, it looked like he hadn't moved. At least, she didn't see him rising from the mud or vanishing into the very faint sunlight while she was distracting Stoick. "No problem." She stated when her eyes focused back on him.

"Good." Stoick smiled and turned towards the village. "Oh, and Hiccup…" He turned his head back to his daughter "What were you doing out here so late? You're usually back by sunset."

"Oh, uh…" Hiccup stared down at her feet for a second and then back up at Stoick "I was with Toothless. I came back here when I left the feast and I've been here ever since." That was _technically _not a lie, anyway…

"Right, of course." Stoick replied "Get a move on to the cove before anything else happens."

With a nod, Hiccup ran ahead of Stoick and began to make her way to the beach. After a quick check of the scenery, Stoick followed her.

Dagur watched as the torch's gleam faded away and left him in darkness; the sun was but a sliver in the black and purple sky when he finally could pull his face out of the mud and get that annoying branch that was ticking the inside of his armor.

He grumbled "The next time I see that girl, she's going to pay for that…" Dagur spit some mud out of his mouth and dusted off what he could from his clothes and face. "She'd better watch her back; I'm not done here just yet." He growled and stomped out of the brush, with a limp because of Hiccup's surprisingly strong kick, and began his journey back to the Berserk boats in the docks.

* * *

Hiccup felt a little guilty abandoning Dagur in the forest. But she thought it better to keep her father oblivious to anything that may or may not have been going on before he went looking for her. Though she knew perfectly well what had happened between her and Dagur, which really wasn't much at all (to her relief), no doubt Stoick would think she was trying to cover up something rather than explain what happened.

She arrived at the cove's on the beach to find Astrid, Snotlout, the twins and Fishlegs all making futile attempts to calm obviously frightened dragons from flying out of the caves they were being hidden inside and spreading out across the sky. She dashed towards her friends and called over to them "What happened?"

"Don't know!" Snotlout shouted.

"They won't calm down!" Ruffnut continued.

"Well, did anything out here scare them?" Hiccup questioned.

"We didn't see anything." Astrid replied as she tried to keep a grip on a terrible terror that was trying desperately to leap out of her arms.

"What about in the cave?" Hiccup stepped closer to the entrance.

"We've tried getting inside." Fishlegs stated "They kicked Snotlout out as soon as he tried to get past them."

"Let me try…" Hiccup muttered. She cautiously outstretched her arm to the snout of a snarling purple Nadder and whispered "It's ok… I want to help you. All of you." She touched the dragon's nose with her palm and it slowly began to soothe itself to a manageable manner. "There, see?" Hiccup asked with a soft voice "Now what's bugging you so much?"

She steadily snuck her way through the masses of dragons inside the cave, maintaining her composure as she practically tip-toed around their agitated forms in near darkness. Suddenly, her metal foot slipped on the surface and she fell onto her back. Moaning, she sat up and set her hands down on the surprisingly wet ground. She rubbed her fingers on it and detected algae was what caused her to collapse. "Hold on…" She murmured "Now I get it…"

Hiccup staggered to her feet, attempting not to land on her back again in the process and carefully maneuvered about the slimy floor. She emerged from the cave moments later, the dragons cowering at her as she passed them and revealed to her friends a dead eel in her hands. "The tide must have gotten into the cave during a storm. The floor's covered in algae and there's a whole bunch of these eels on the ground. They must have noticed them when we put more dragons in there." She tossed the eel on the ground in front of them. "I'm going to need your help getting all of those out.

Her companions nodded in agreement and got to work on removing every last eel from the cavern that they could find. And, much to their relief, not one dragon escaped during their hunt, as the teens took turns monitoring the outside while the others gathered the dreaded fish from the inside. The sun had set before they finished and the dragons were calmed down for the night. After saying their "good nights," the group parted for their homes in the village.

Hiccup's walk home was procrastinated by Astrid's asking if the two could take the hike together. She complied and they set out for home, a torch in the blonde's hand to easier navigate the uneasy terrain.

"Is there something you want to talk to me about?" Hiccup asked.

"Actually, yes." Astrid answered. "It's about Dagur." Hiccup rolled her eyes, unnoticed by her friend "Did you talk at the feast?" Hiccup nodded "How'd it go? Did he ask you about the dragons?"

"He didn't ask, exactly." Hiccup reflected "He more… told me he knew and that he wanted to know how I did it."

"And…"

Hiccup sighed. "And then I told him 'no" and he carried me off into the woods for questioning."

"So you told him?!" Astrid barked.

"No…" Astrid made a small smile "Not until after I had to tame a Whispering Death right in front of him."

"What?!" Astrid shouted "He made you demonstrate?!"

"No, it was a wild one. I was hunting us and he was going to kill it, so I trained it instead. Then… I kind of had to tell him."

"I think you have to give me some more details." Astrid stated.

* * *

When Dagur re-entered the village, the moon was raised high in the sky and the stars were its only assistants when it came to illuminating the tiny island. Nearly every building he passed also had little to no light shining inside of it. Passing the blacksmith's, though, he did see lights accompanied by the sounds of metal being wielded and Gobber's singing occasionally overpowering the banging of metal on metal and the roar of the flames in the fire pit. He couldn't help but snicker when he heard the jolly man fail to hit the high note in his little tune, though he'd heard it several times before on previous visits to Berk.

As he exited the square, his boats came into his view. They too were light with the lives taking shelter within them. From the hilltop, he could hear shouts and intermittent crashes inside the ships, most likely from a brawl that had broken out below deck out of sheer boredom (it was also one he intended on joining in on, once he rejoined his people).

"Chief!" Dagur heard a voice beckon behind him. He turned to find two of his guards, spears in hand, drawing near. "We've been searching for you, sir." The taller of the two uttered.

"Where have you been?" The shorter continued.

"It doesn't matter." Dagur shrugged off their concern effortlessly.

"It does matter." The short guard countered "If anything happened to you, we would be lost. There's no one line for the position, should you-"

In one speedy move, much like he had with Hiccup, Dagur tore a knife out of his boot, pinned the guard speaking on the ground with an arm twisted behind his back and held the dagger to the man's throat.

"Now…" he snarled "does it look like I would have been in any danger to you? I am _not_ chief of this tribe for no reason!"

The guard gulped, his bottom lip quivering "O-of course, Dagur, sir…" he stuttered "O-our mistake."

Pleased with his victory, Dagur tucked the knife back into his boot and shoved the guard back into the ground before releasing him from his python-like grip. "Good. Now, for my other piece of business…" he turned to guard still standing "I have found what we came for."

"Haven't you already signed the treaty, sir?" The tall guard questioned.

"I have." Dagur proclaimed "But I came with another task as well. I have discovered who the Dragon Conqueror is."

"Who would it be, sir?" The guard asked, intrigued by his leader's discovery. "Is it Stoick the Vast?"

"Close." Dagur affirmed "It's Stoick's fishbone of a daughter. Who would have thought it to be her with those rumors crossing the seas? Strength of ten men? Yeah, right." He scoffed.

"Shall we go inform the rest of the crew?" The shorter guard shakily asked as he finally rose from the ground, kneading the arm that Dagur had twisted.

"Why not?" The chief shrugged his shoulders. "I was on my way back to the ships anyway."

The trio of Berserkers began their stroll back to their boats casually. But not long after he began walking, a small flicker sparked in the corner of Dagur's apple green irises. Stopping his stride and glancing toward their source, he recognized it as none other than Hiccup and Astrid heading for the brunette's house on the top of the hill. He couldn't read what words their lips were forming from his distance, but he could see that the pair was deeply focused on their conversation whatever it was about. Dagur placed his bet on something meaningless because, after all, even the toughest Viking women seem to like to gossip with people of the same gender. That assumption changed when Hiccup rolled her eyes and shrugged as her friend continued what was starting to look like a lecture about something to her. Something in this piece of the lecture must have amused her, because Hiccup let out a laugh that rang hushed in Dagur's ears. Astrid soon shook her head at her friend's laughter. Now Dagur's mind was set back on the gossip theory.

He watched as they ascended the stairs to the chief's residence and Hiccup slipped inside the dimly light building. The blond soon set out for her own home, the on looking Berserker going completely unnoticed. He stared at the house for a moment and watched as the light on the ground floor died away to become only the faintest light, most likely emitting from the fire pit that was light inside.

"Dagur?" The tall guard faintly called "Are you not coming back to the ships yet?"

His echoing voice caught Dagur's attention and pulled him in its direction. The Berserker stared over his shoulder for a moment as he turned around and vanished with his guards into the shadows of the night, contemplating exactly why he couldn't seem to get the scrawny girl out of his mind. The whole walk back to the boats, he was deeply immersed in these thoughts. He mulled over these feelings that felt so unnatural to him but yet… seemed right, somehow. He thought about the way Hiccup had managed that Whispering Death without a second thought and how her auburn hair and forest green eyes looked in the light of the sunset. In the temple of his mind, Hiccup began to shine brighter than any treasure he had pillaged and became almost as appealing as going into battle against a well-deserving enemy. He felt his cheeks warm as his mind wandered. His boat feet away, he briskly shook the girl from his mind. _I've got to do something about this…_ He mentally noted as he entered his ship for the evening.


	8. Alcohol's Influence

**I'm back! I know it's been a long time since I updated... anything... but I will explain myself for you guys.**

**The past week had been Hijack Week on Tumblr, which I participated in, so i was busy writing out the prompts for that and thus had no time to spare to write my other fanfics. I also used my motivation to work on stuff towards my Hiccup cosplay for Connecticon, which is in a few weeks. And, though my prompts were mostly done, this week has just been total crap for me and I didn't really have the motivation to write until tonight. So I powered through this chapter because you guys have clearly waited long enough.**

**So... long story short: stuff got in my way longer than I expected and I'm sorry you had to wait this long for an update, I really am. I didn't think I would be this late with it but... life happened. I hope this chapter, as much filler as it is, makes up for it. I'm going to update my Hijack story before this one again, just to get it off of its hiatus too but I hope I'll get back to this one by the end of next week again. **

* * *

Dagur stumbled out of the Berserker boats the next morning with a pounding in his head and a few new bruises on his face and he had only one clue as to how they appeared. His memory was a disorganized mess of events that seemed to play back in his mind in no particular order. He remembered chugging down a pretty good amount of mead that was taken to Berk with them and leaping right into the center of the brawl starting below deck and fearlessly taking on the largest man on the ship. Somewhere in there, he could vaguely remember dangling from the rafters for a motive that was clouded at the moment. And, for some reason, he had a few teeth stuck in the leather and cloth that wrapped around his left arm that was accompanied by faint blood stains. Whatever fight he was in to get those on him, he could only hope he won… and that those teeth weren't his own.

The smell of alcohol filled his nostrils when he gasped for a breath and almost collapsed in the brightness of the day. He adjusted his eyes to the brightness of the sun, trying his best not to show his weakened state to his crew or any random bystanders, and supported his wobbling legs by resting on the side of the ship as if he were lounging in the shade it offered for the time being. His head throbbed, forcing him to hiss in pain under his breath until it seemed to go away. Today was NOT the best day to wander around Berk, but the challenge was better than admitting weakness and staying in his cabin on the ship all day long because of a little dizziness and a headache. He was a Viking, for Thor's sake. He'd been through worse than a bad hangover before.

Dagur caught his breath once more and proceeded up to the village square with caution in every step. That is, until his knees decided to cooperate and stabilize enough for him to walk in a straight line. In an effort to put all of the pieces of the previous night back together, he recalled a dream that his pounding head had awakened him from prematurely. It was really incoherent and the image was hazy when he thought back, but he felt a weird sense of comfort from the shine of auburn that stuck out like a lone star in a clouded sky. What was that shine coming from, anyway? He couldn't remember anything but that glimmer of red mixed with… yellow light? That part had to be influenced by the mead, for sure. He knew that image would probably haunt him for the rest of the day… or even just figuring out what in Odin's name that his dream was even about!

Finally getting to the peak of the massive amount of stairs from the docks, Dagur nearly abandoned his previous thoughts. He glanced about the square discerningly and decided that he might as well find something for himself to eat. One of the things that he still didn't remember about the night before was the last time he had eaten; and his stomach clarified that it had been quite some time since it was fed a morsel. He grumbled along with it and stalked about until he reached the food storage. He stopped as he let his eyes wander about, inspecting for any stray eyes that might catch him sneaking a well needed bite to eat. Sure, he could buy something. But that wasn't fun, now was it? Taking one last glance about, he slipped inside the, surprisingly, unlocked doors and slowly closed them behind him.

Inside the storage building, Dagur was met with pure bliss. His growling stomach only increased its continual roars until its owner finally took a decent sized yak leg and began to stuff it down his gullet. Devouring the whole leg in less than five minutes was quite the personal best for the Berserker chief, and no one was even around to support the claim that he had done it. Just his luck… he smacked his lips, taking in the last of the flavor remaining and looked about the area once more. The salt preserving that meat left him parched. Dagur quickly discovered a fresh bucket of yak milk and proceeded to satiate his thirst by downing the whole bucket's worth of milk in one big gulp. With a great sigh, he dropped the bucket in the same general area and licked his lips with satisfaction, also removing a small milk moustache in the process.

Feeling more content, but still suffering some from his hangover, Dagur snuck out of the food storage unnoticed and wandered about the village some more. Boredom began to take hold not long after his raid, which brought him to the decision of how he was going to spend his day. But that was pretty obvious, once he finally remembered why he was even still on Berk to begin with. Normally, he couldn't wait to get back to Berserk and crack some Gronkle bones or kill a Nadder or two. But that had been put off because of one reason alone. Dagur couldn't leave, not yet… not until he figured out what in the name of Thor he was feeling towards a certain girl with green eyes and ample freckles. Especially after what happened the last time the two had departed. The way he was behaving around her was so… different than normal. Not to mention when the little brat shoved him into the mud (that was fun to get off of his armor…). If it had been anyone else, he would have shot up and knocked their skull in. What stopped him from doing that to Hiccup? Why did he obey her when he made him stay down and out of sight? What… what was wrong with him?!

This flaw only became more prominent when he noticed that familiar brown hair swish in the not so crowded square. Hiccup was sprinting into the blacksmith's, removing her fur vest as she entered the building with haste in every move she made.

_What is she doing…? _Dagur internally questioned, unconsciously advancing on the smithy, curiosity clearly in full control of his body… which was pretty easy to pilot after the events he took part in the night before. The Berserker finally regained control of his limbs and forced them to a halt when he was feet from the door. He hovered in that place for a few moments, taking in what Hiccup was saying to Gobber.

"-So then it turned out to be eels that got stuck from high tide. Guess how fun it was to get those out of the cave."

"At least ye handled it with no problems, Hiccup. Dragons are pretty unpredictable when they're afraid."

"Yeah, I know…" A hammer started being banged against metal "just like we can be."

"Don't be crazy, now." Gobber chuckled "Vikings don't cower in fear; we laugh in its face and stay that way until _it_ becomes afraid of _us_."

_That's an understatement…_ Dagur rolled his eyes. Then, he heard a giggle from inside the walls. Hiccup's giggle. Upon that reaching his ears, his expression softened and the slightest smile flickered onto his face. His stomach warmed and his muscles relaxed in a way that they never had before. After all, this sensation was normally linked to the effects of relief after a great battle or taking on a herd of dragons all at once and emerging victorious. This time… it came from a simple laugh? _When is this going to go away? _Dagur asked himself _What did I eat? Did someone poison me? _

After quickly dismissing both theories, he trudged on, hoping to pass the establishment… to little success. He made it about five steps before sparks began to fly, visible in the corner of his eye. Dagur turned his head to follow the flying specks of light and found them emitting from a piece of metal that was being sharpened… by Hiccup's hands. And, always having been interested in the creation of weaponry, Dagur's trained eyes followed her freckle-dusted hands as they glided over the surface of the smooth metal being sharpened to a rather dull point and removed, for the cycle to repeat with another rod of the same size. This was copied a third time before the girl rested the set of three on the fire pit's rim, allowing the filed points to loosen some more in the blazes.

What was she making…? Surely not a weapon of any kind that Dagur had seen before. Hiccup took the rods and dipped them in a bucket of water. She then strayed from her workspace and returned a moment later with a slab of red fabric. She dried off the rods and slipped them inside pockets made into the fabric. Wait a minute, that looks like… oh, she was modifying her dragon's tail fin. He forgot that her dragon was crippled. Kind of hard to tell when the last time Dagur saw it was when it fired plasma blasts at him.

"That should do it…" Hiccup muttered to herself as she folded it back up and placed it on a nearby workbench.

"Oh, Hiccup" Gobber called to her "since yer here, can ye help me out a little with the swords in that barrel?" Hiccup looked at the barrel the man with the blond moustache apparently gestured towards "The appointments with the dragon's teeth have me booked for the afternoon. Can ye help me not fall behind?"

Hiccup only nodded in response as she took one of the swords from the barrel and placed it on the burning coals of the fire to make the metal more malleable. Dagur kept his eyes on her like a dragon to its future kill. He watched her intensify the fire and bring the sword to be sharpened. She would occasionally glance around the area, probably feeling his eyes on her and searching for them, but Dagur would quickly hide behind the other side of the wall and peer back inside when her gaze was diverted back to the weapon in her hands. Sparks flew once more, avoiding her well-trained hands. Hiccup blew her messy bangs out of her face whenever they fell and obscured her view.

But, while admiring her work, Dagur found that wasn't the only thing he began to be fascinated by. Whenever Hiccup's concentration peaked, her mouth would slightly gape and her nose would scrunch. Her intent face seemed… adorable, dare he say it. And her eyes almost looked amber in the light of the flames, or maybe like a burning forest in the dim light of dusk. But what screamed for his attention was her hair. Pulled back into a loose ponytail, he auburn locks danced with shades of browns and reds in the fire's light. Where it was directly in front of the fire, it almost looked light shades of orange and yellow.

Then, the warmth returned and grew stronger still. This feeling felt… familiar somehow. Now this was getting crazy. There was even buzzing in his ears that grew louder as the seconds ticked on in slow motion. The buzzing then grew to incoherent speech, only the word "Hiccup" actually making it to his ears. That was when he turned around.

_Oh, great… _Dagur silently sighed _this one again…_

Before the young chief was none other than the by far most leech-like kid on all of Berk: Snotlout. "Well?" He quickly asked "You gonna answer me or stare into space like you've been doing for the past ten minutes?"

"What do you want?" Dagur sighed "I'm busy."

"I can see that." Snotlout sniggered "But, honestly, why are you so interested in spending time with Hiccup? I mean, the coolest Viking on the island is standing right in front of you." He proclaimed as he flexed his muscles, acting like he'd conquered an empire overnight.

"You didn't answer me. What do you want?" Dagur demanded.

"Oh, just wanted to hang out with my pal Dagur."

"How many times do I have to say 'I'm not your pal?' I'm-"

"I know, I know" Snotlout threw his hands up, mocking defense "You're my superior. But I was thinking…" he slung a pudgy arm over Dagur's shoulder, as best as he could "why don't we go take our battle axes to some targets in the arena? Maybe some one on one? I've been itching for a fight with someone that's actually a challenge."

Dagur shrugged Snotlout's arm off of him. It was an interesting notion… and he had been dying to let loose some more of his fighting drive. And he could totally take Snotlout, even with his head still drumming whenever he met sunlight that was too strong.

"I have wanted to get into that killing arena of yours." Dagur smirked "Think there's a dragon in need of slaughtering?"

Snotlout was actually silent for a moment before sputtering out "Oh, darn, you know we killed the last dragon we had captive before your boats showed up. Guess we'll have to settle for targets." He then began lead the Berserker to the arena.

Yep, this kid was in on the dragon secret too… maybe he could be of more use than Dagur normally thought of the little annoyance. Maybe even a tidbit or two on Hiccup… yeah, maybe this sparring session won't be as painful as the ones previous. Maybe, for once, Snotlout would be more than a form of entertainment for an hour or two. Dagur guessed "befriending" the brat might pay off after all the uselessness he had to put up with over the years... if he got what he wanted out of him.


	9. What a Waste

**So, this is what happens when I'm way overdue on an update and I'm working on writer's block. I'm sorry this one kind of sucks but it was really hard for me to figure out where to go with it. All I knew that was set in stone here was the start and the end. Everything else in this chapter basically came out as I typed and I went with it.**

**I know my updates are getting less frequent with this story but, like I said, I have writer's block on this story right now and I'm trying to stay productive by writing out my other fanfics. Usually, when I take a little break from something, the spark comes back. So I might do just that. **

**It's starting to get where I need this story to go in order for me to have no problems working with it again but it's just not close enough yet. I'm sorry if anyone's rolling their eyes at the screen right now, but it's the truth. I write my fanfics for fun and, right now, this one isn't fun for me. I don't want to leave this story because I'm tired of ditching projects, but I am going to update at about this frequency for awhile. I'm sorry but if I can't write stuff that I think is quality, I don't want to post it. **

* * *

Well, wasn't this a waste of time. Dagur hoped that Snotlout would _at least_ be a small challenge since he was overcoming his hangover. But, if anything, it only made the fight a smidgeon more exciting than all of the previous sparring matches. He had a slow start, admittedly, but that quickly changed when his obnoxious opponent started throwing taunts at him. And if there was one thing Dagur the Deranged never turned down, it was when someone was just _begging_ for an ass-kicking.

The Hooligan and the Berserker's brawl went from a stalemate to a match with an obvious winner within seconds; this "winner" being the chief of Berserk. With unforeseen speed, Dagur knocked Snotlout's axe out of his hand and backed him against the wall, his larger axe inches the smaller boy's neck. In that moment, Snotlout's overbearing confidence wavered and was briefly replaced with fear. Upon this lovable sight, Dagur mouth formed a sinister smirk.

"Looks like I won again." the Berserker nearly sang. He withdrawed his axe to its holster and put his hands on his hips "How about another go, kid? Unless, of course, you've learned who has more skill here?" All Snotlout did in response was shake his head "Good." A pause "Yep, I'm bored."

Dagur was about to exit the arena when a screech came from the sky. He and Snotlout looked overhead to see the fast shadow of a dragon. Dagur's eyes light up at the sight. That was Hiccup's Night Fury! He wondered where they were going, he wanted to try to follow them and see what they were up to. But the speed they swept by at would be impossible to trail on foot. Plus, the look on Snotlout's face when he saw that both of them had noticed the dragon screaming through the sky was priceless. There was no way he would pass up the opportunity to mess with him again.

"What was that?" Dagur pretended not to know "I thought there weren't any dragons here for miles anymore?"

"Th-there aren't." Snotlout tried to assure "But… that doesn't mean a dragon doesn't… pass through every now and then…" he let off this stupid, guilty grin. Boy, this guy couldn't keep a secret to save his life, huh?

"Right…" Dagur pretended to play along "must be one brave dragon to cross through here, though. I mean, so many dragons have been killed here. You'd think they'd smell the blood of their kind all over this place and avoid it."

"Yeah… I guess…" Snotlout gulped "thanks a lot, Hiccup…" he muttered under his breath. Dagur wasn't surprised he could hear it, though. Shock can mess with people's filters in wondrous ways, if they're worked on properly.

"Hiccup?" Dagur smirked "What about Hiccup?"

"Oh," Snotlout sputtered "Nothing important; I just have to pass something on to her later. That is, when I find her."

Dagur chuckled "She can't be that hard to find. If you can hunt down a dragon no problem, you can track a girl as thin as a twig."

"Ok then." Snotlout sneered "Go find her. Maybe that'll entertain you for awhile."

Dagur mulled it over as best as he could, given his brain was still not at full capacity. At least it had cleared quite a bit as the morning pushed along. Well, he did want to get her back for what she did to him the night before. Dagur shrugged and darted in the direction that he saw the Night Fury turn to and continued to speed in that direction.

After about an hour of staring up at the sky and wandering aimlessly through the woods, Dagur decided to put some more tact into his thinking. If that girl was anywhere after a flight, it would be where she kept her dragon hidden. So, he sprinted to the cove and that's exactly where she was.

Hiccup was unfastening herself from her dragon's saddle and scratched him behind his left ear. She was saying something to it that her onlooker couldn't detect before she noticed him at the top of the cliff again. He wasn't exactly surprised since he wasn't trying to hide this time. After all, she couldn't have _too much_ resentment towards him right?

This question was proven wrong very quickly when she apparently told the dragon to fire at him again. This time, Dagur dodged with a certain amount of courage that he wouldn't be killed this time.

It wasn't long before Hiccup was out of the hole and staring him down "What do you want now?"

"I saw your dragon fly over the killing arena..." Dagur informed her "which, by the way, could use a few more blood stains."

"Why were you in the arena?"

Dagur scoffed "One of your idiot friends thought they could beat me in a sparring match. I creamed him every round." He admitted with a chuckle.

"You actually sparred with them?" She sounded surprised "I thought we were all incompetent fighters to you."

"I was bored."

"What? Watching me in the blacksmith's shop not entertaining enough for you?" The Hooligan heir smirked. It was Dagur's turn be surprised. "Maybe next time you should try to be more discreet than staring in the front window."

"I was trying to see what you were making." Hiccup rolled her eyes at that "What?"

"If you _must_ know, I was improving Toothless' tail." Hiccup groaned "Now we can fly faster because the rods are thinner than before." She started to walk away "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other things to check up on."

Dagur trudged back to his fleet of boats uneasily. It was almost like Hiccup was trying to get rid of him. He didn't do anything to the little twerp… this visit. And taking her dragon out for a spin when they're supposed to be secret? That was a little weird too. What was going on, seriously? Last night, they had a decent time… before her dad showed up looking for her and he was shoved face first into the mud.

Today seemed different. But he did know about the dragon secret and, with that, came the knowledge that she had all of the other flying reptiles to tend to as well. But she still seemed like she didn't want anything to do with him. Then again, who could blame her? He has done some pretty uncalled for things to her in the past. Wait, remorse? Ugh, must have been his brain messing with him. Alcohol does that to a man.

Immediately after he arrived on the boat, the young chief was met by one of the guards.

"Chief Dagur" he began "I have received word from our contact. They will arrive within the next two days."


	10. Time to Strike

**Writer's block broken through! ... sorta... I'm proud of myself for getting this chapter done, really. I'm leaving on vacation to Florida later on today, so I wanted to update this story before I left. But... writer's block didn't let me until I started Dagur's perspective and everything else just flowed from there. I'm sorry but next week I won't be able to update at all because of my vacation. But I'm doing my best to break through the rest of this writer's block so I can update once a week, like I'd like to. I'll get it eventually, I swear!**

* * *

_Two days. Just two more days until we can go home. _Dagur thought as he paced the areas of his cabin _I just have to make sure we hand her over and then we'll be good to go._

He had to admit that it would be a bit of a shame to feign knowledge of what would come to his host island in the very near future. But bringing his tribe back to their former glory demanded these kinds of steps. Hiccup is the only person in the entire Archipelago who could control dragons to such an extent. With weapons like the dragons, there's no telling how much more fun battle would be; burning things from the air and screaming out of the clouds to split a few heads. Oh, the possibilities! Dagur could really get creative with his kills if he had dragons at his command. Everything he'd always wanted to try out would suddenly be within his grasp; endless experiments were so close he could just taste them.

He also had to see if this stupid peace treaty was worth keeping or not. If Stoick is none the wiser about what was to occur, he shouldn't hesitate to plead for Berserk's help in retrieving his precious daughter from their contact. With that blind spot of trust, Dagur could easily move in and take every Hooligan's life and claim all of their land for himself with no opposition. That is, if they prove to be incompetent warriors. Dagur would accept only the best coming from any ally of his; and if it meant taking down tribe after tribe and showing them how real Vikings battle, so be it.

All he had to do now was wait. It shouldn't be that hard to do, after all. Just entertain himself until the theft took place and then he could get back to the treetops of Berserk and maybe torture a prisoner or two in celebration. With a stunt like this, the Uglithugs will be more than happy to join his cause of creating the best and bloodiest era in all of history.

Forty-eight hours… and then everything will fall into place.

* * *

Those two days crept by slower than an injured snail. Dagur wanted to move forward with the plan more than anything. He had her trust, or hoped he did, and the ninety-pound girl was extremely easy to overpower and throw into submission. So, this would be as simple as pillaging the Peaceables' villages no matter how this went.

But he had to wait… he had to lie in the shadows of deception and delay his pounce until the time was right. Dagur the Deranged was not the kind of predator that had the patience to time his kills. He only had the attention span for spur of the moment actions, fights that started on his terms and not by the terms of strategy. Alas, being chief meant that he had to adapt to strategy. He couldn't just attack whenever like he could his village's chicken coops when he was a boy with a growing bloodlust. Now he had more at stake than a snuck meal or his father's lackluster idea of a punishment. He was responsible for every member of his tribe and what was best for all of them. He couldn't take such risky moves for his own desires to get this done and getting it done quickly. He had to stay crouched in the tall grasses made up of peace long enough to strike his unsuspecting prey in their blind spot… and take the most valuable member of the pack.

* * *

Berk had been rather peaceful for the past two days. Hiccup placed the reasoning onto the fact that the Berserkers were starting to stick to their boats and only venture out into the village when an order of supplies for their trip back home was finally processed and ready to be taken to the ships. Hiccup didn't even see Dagur around for very long those past few days. But after two incidents already involving him spying on her, she kept her guard up with every step she took. If there was one thing that guy could do, it was sneak up on her and make her day ten times worse than she planned on it to be.

The heir to Berk spent another day in the forge improving Toothless' tail some more. After that test flight earlier in the week, she detected some issues with the balance and steering. Turned out that it was because one of the rods keeping the tail fanned out was heavier than the other two and it was throwing herself and her dragon off-balance. She removed the prosthetic tail fin from her flying beast once again and spent up until the sun started to set making sure that all of the rods were perfectly balanced and ready for flight tomorrow morning. With her luck being as well as it's been going lately, she's be able to squeeze in another secret flight without anyone seeing… excluding Dagur from that list…

When she finally bid Gobber goodnight, she started her walk back home, tail and saddle under arm and a grin planted on her face. For the first time since almost all of Berserk showed up for the annual peace treaty signing, she had finally felt relaxed. A day like that one couldn't have been better for the young Viking. It was just what she needed; some time to herself in the forge, no dragon stresses, no domestic problems to solve, just she and her thoughts.

Her quiet walk was soon disturbed by the faint sound of her name being called out. She turned around to see a figure that looked like a shadow in the fading sunlight running towards her at almost the same speed as a dragon. But this was no dragon… it was a person.

"Hiccup!" Astrid finally came sprinting up to her full view, pale as a ghost. She stopped in front of her friend and panted heavily, resting her hands on her knees.

"What's wrong, Astrid?" Hiccup asked.

"The… the dragons…" She gasped "Get to the cave… the others are there now… hurry!" She turned back from where she came and darted off again, this time with Hiccup in close pursuit. As fast as her prosthetic would take her, Hiccup followed Astrid to the dragons' cave and found it only occupied by Ruffnut and Tuffnut. All of the present teens now shared a similar look of depressed shock.

"Wh-what…?" Hiccup stuttered "What happened? Where are the dragons?"

"Gone." Tuffnut huffed "Isn't that obvious?"

"We came to feed them and this is what we found." Ruffnut continued "They all just… disappeared."

"We found something!" Snotlout's voice bellowed from deeper inside the cave. He and Fishlegs soon walked back into the light. Fishlegs was visibly shaken and Snotlout had a rolled up sheet of paper in his hand. "It's for you, Hiccup." He tossed it to her.

She read aloud, her voice growing more sullen by the word "'Dragon Conqueror, we have taken your precious dragon army. Come to the beach on the backside of the island of Berk before the moon is at its peak… or else every last one will pay the price.'" She flipped it over and skimmed the page again "No signature."

"What are you going to do?" Astrid gasped "You're not going to go, are you?"

"I have no choice." Hiccup stated "Whoever this is, they have your dragons. And that might mean that they found Toothless too. I have to go and try to stop whatever is going on."

"Just be careful." Fishlegs added "We have no idea what they want with you."

"They want the Dragon Conqueror, duh." Snotlout scoffed "Why else would they write that on the note?"

"I think we should go with you." Astrid suggested "We'll just hide in the bushes and, if anything goes wrong, we'll help you."

"No, you don't have to do that." Hiccup protested "I can take care of myself."

"Sure you can." Ruffnut sniggered "That's why you almost die on a monthly basis."

"Alright, fine." Hiccup threw her hands up in defeat "If it makes you guys feel better, you can follow me. But we'd better start moving now; it's a bit of a walk to the other side of the island."

The group of teens dashed up the hill they came from and into the woods, Hiccup leading and the rest trailing closely behind. Hiccup took her party past the cove, to see whether or not the dragons' captors had found Toothless too. Fortunately, they hadn't and he was still safe and sound where he was left.

_Thank Thor…_ Hiccup mused, wiping sweat from her brow before carrying on with their hike to the back end of the island.

The moon was at half its peak in the sky by the time the teens had managed to see their destination in the distance. They looked at one another, gave a few reassuring nods and let Hiccup press on as normal while the other five settled to creeping in the shadows from hiding spot to hiding spot until they were within earshot of their friend. Astrid climbed a tree that was close to the beach's start and tried to get a decent view of what was going on.

Hiccup stepped into the light of torches being held by numerous Viking men that were triple her size, at the least. She could hear the cries of the dragons as they desperately tried to claw their way out of the cage they were all crammed into. And, right in front of the dragons' prison, stood the person she was hoping and dreading to see: Alvin the Treacherous.


	11. The Willful Prisoner

**I'm back from Florida and I think I finally killed my writer's block... for now. **

**We're finally getting off Berk and that was my real problem point because I just wanted to get here but I didn't know how and... thank God I'm finally here. I actually have plans for the next chapter too, other than to get closer to an important point. Should be a nice change for me after my problems with writing this story for awhile there...**

**Anyway, I got back to the length I like these chapters to be at this time around and I hope you like the update. Enjoy~! :)**

* * *

"Hello there, Hiccup." Alvin purred "I'm glad you accepted my request."

"Wait…" Hiccup took a step back "How'd you know that I'm the one you want?"

"I had some… inside help." Alvin smirked. He gestured for someone to come into the light with him. And who came into her view… was none other than Dagur the Deranged.

"I should have known." Hiccup scoffed "I should have known you were up to something!"

"I guess you found out too late." The Berserker flashed his fiendish grin, which only grew as he reached behind him and drew his axe.

"Seize the Dragon Conqueror!" Alvin bellowed.

In that moment, every Outcast and Berserker that could enclose on the small Hooligan did exactly that. Hiccup weighed the stakes as the world around her began to slow to a halt. She was greatly outnumbered, even if her friends managed to break through the wall of warriors and could attempt to help her fight them off. But, even so, Hiccup was never a fighter. That's how she became the "Dragon Conqueror" anyway, by not being the Viking she was taught to be. And, even if she was, she would still be defenseless because there was no weapon at her disposal. Well, except for her dainty hands that could barely lift a sword… or anything that would make a sizeable weapon. There was no winning, no clever escape plan, no way out. There was only one thing that could possibly save her from the oncoming pulverizing.

"Alvin!" She screeched. "What do you want me to do?" She put on a brave face and a stern tone to mask her fear.

That was when the crowd parted and made a path for their chiefs to approach her "What do I want?" Alvin repeated "What do I want?!" Hiccup tried to make herself smaller and balled her fists to her chest "I want you to train me dragons; then move on to tame the ones on Berserk."

She mulled over the idea for a moment, releasing her fists from their defensive position "And then where?" Hiccup crossed her arms "The Peaceable Islands, perhaps?"

"You'll have to see now, won't you?" Alvin countered.

Hiccup looked around her and noted that her friends were about to pounce from their hiding places. In the other direction, she saw the trapped dragons were desperately trying to break free, now setting fire to some of the bars in a desperate effort to melt them. She had to do this… she had to.

"If I cooperate with you, will you release the dragons and leave Berk alone?" She quizzed.

"On me word." The Outcast claimed.

Another pause to think "Then I'll go." Hiccup replied "No fight needed. Just leave Berk and its dragons alone."

Alvin turned to Dagur "Well, you heard her. Release the beasts." The Berserker reluctantly complied, a quiet growl being his only protest "Get her on board. We're headed home, boys!"

Seconds after their leader's command, two massive Outcasts grabbed Hiccup by the arms and dragged her onboard the ship, which Hiccup observed was the largest of a small armada that was anchored on the back end of Berk's beaches. She was lugged below deck by the brutes and, after a few violent turns, was tossed her into a small jail cell. The heir to the Hooligan tribe was now under lock and key.

"That oughta hold her." One of the Outcasts commented.

"Get comfy, Dragon Conqueror." The other ordered "It's gonna be the last time you can." He exchanged gruff smirks with his partner before they left her.

* * *

Astrid couldn't believe what she had seen from her perch in the tree! Hiccup was surrounded in all directions and she had given the signal for herself and the rest of the small army of Vikings to prepare for attack. And just as they were about to leap from the shadows they were hiding in to assist their friend, Hiccup let out a shout that made every assailant stop in their tracks and make a path for Alvin (no surprise there) and… Dagur…?

The Hofferson girl's lips thinned into a line at the display before her and signaled for the others to hold their ground for just a little longer. _What's going on here? _She pondered _The Berserkers are supposed to be aligned with us. And Dagur sure doesn't look like a captive. _It was then that the topic of her thoughts gave an obvious huff and strode over to a massive cage that contained all of the missing dragons. _Now what? _

It was Alvin's turn to shout. Astrid turned her attention back to Hiccup and acknowledged that she wasn't resisting the two guards' grips on her arms as she was taken on board the ship. The trio disappeared below deck without a sign of struggle from Hiccup. Confusion only grew at the sight. _What is happening around here?_

It wasn't until she heard a clang and countless roars fill the air that the events she had just witnessed made sense. She saw Dagur standing by the cage of dragons that was emptying more frantically by the second. He didn't seem too happy about what was happening in front of him. He must have opened it while she was watching Hiccup. Then… it clicked in her mind. Hiccup had turned herself over to them! She must have made some kind of deal. This was Hiccup, after all. She would do almost anything for Berk and that "almost" was excluded when it came to dragons.

"Astrid!" Snotlout hissed as loudly as he could below her "Are we doing this or not?"

She peered down from her perch and observed Dagur and the remainder of the Vikings on the beach climb onto the set of three boats and begin to hoist up their anchors. "No." She whispered back "We have to go find the chief and tell him what's going on." She jumped from the branch and started to run for the village.

"Why?" Fishlegs asked as he crawled out of the bushes he hid underneath.

"You didn't see what just happened?" She interrogated.

Fishlegs shook his head. "They took Hiccup?"

"She gave herself up." Astrid corrected.

All of the teens exchanged uncertain looks before rushing back to the village as fast as their feet could take them. The chief had to know that his daughter was taken hostage by none other than their worst enemy and their fifty year ally.

* * *

Hiccup quickly scanned over the tiny cell and found nothing inside of it but herself and an old, tattered sail that she guessed was supposed to serve as a blanket. She lifted it, finding nothing underneath it; the same result came from sifting for anything that might be useful on the floor. She may have agreed to be a prisoner of both the Berserkers and the Outcasts, but that didn't mean she would mope around in her cell without plans for an emergency escape. These were two of the most ruthless tribes in the whole archipelago, after all. It would be stupid to not have a strategy. But what was at her disposal would be of no help at all. The best she could do was wait out the ride to Outcast Island and pray that where they would hold her there would be of more use.

The Hooligan heiress sat against one of the wooden walls of her cell and did her best to find a comfortable position. She was used to resting on hard surfaces on Berk, but it has always been a whole different story when on a boat. Granted, on Hooligan ships she would have a seat or would just be standing with her father for most of the journey, but the feeling of riding a boat never sat quite right with her. She had always had an acute seasickness; for as long as she could remember, she had never handled herself in the best way when riding the seas.

It usually didn't bother her. But on a night like her first night on the Outcast ship, her nausea nearly got the best of her. She could hear Thor's thunder crashing outside the wood walls of the ship and could occasionally see them flash with a vengeance outside the small porthole that became her only light source when the torches went out. The obviously monstrous waves rammed against the vessel and made it toss and turn in the churning waters. That was how the whole evening went for Hiccup: enduring seasickness by hiding underneath her sail blanket. Somewhere during the experience she wished she didn't have to withstand, her head slipped to the ground and her heavy eyes closed for the storm's end.

When she was awakened by a loud thud from above deck and the sunlight hit her eyes for the first time in hours, the seas were much calmer. Hiccup deflected some of the light from her eyes with her hand, noting that the sun was partially to blame, before rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes. She found the sail had been tossed to the other side of the cell, or dragged there by the rocking of the boat, and blamed that for the chill taking over her body.

From that spawned a very boring and lonely morning for the small captive. Most of her earlier hours were spent pacing the area of her holding space and staring out the porthole in some desperate attempt for entertainment. No one so much as passed by her for hours. Funny, she thought she was some kind of prize to them right now. You'd think they would want to ensure that she stayed put; not that she could do much to escape with what she had, but the point still stood.

It was even more annoying that no one had come by because her hunger had finally started to make itself known to her within the past hour or two. She hadn't eaten since before she was taken on board the damned ship in the first place. Who could she complain about that to if there was no one but herself and maybe a few rats hiding under boxes that littered the area outside her cell. In a moment of defeat, Hiccup pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head on them. Though they did almost nothing to subdue the growls coming from her very vocal stomach, they did offer her just the bit of comfort that she grew to need in this time alone.

She didn't know how long she stayed in that position; only that it was disturbed by a bang that sounded like a door slamming shut and the rhythm of heavy footsteps coming closer and closer. Someone was finally going to come near her! Her only hope at this point was that whoever it was had food for her. She wasn't sure how much longer she could go without trying to eat the sail.

Her hopes weren't high at all; she didn't even think she had any. But who came around the corner crushed all of them.

"Dagur." Hiccup snarled "What are you doing down here?"

"Alvin told me to feed you." He remarked. Not much later, he tossed something wrapped in a rag inside the cage.

Hiccup took it gingerly, never taking her eyes off of Dagur, and unwrapped the cloth. Inside it, she found a chicken leg and a few kinds of berries. Well, she got the food she was hoping she'd get… but from the person she wanted nothing to do with anymore "Thanks." She spat.

"You're lucky Alvin wants you alive." The Berserker stated "If he didn't, I might have been offended."

Hiccup huffed and started picking at the berries "Please, if you wanted to kill me, you would have by now. You've had, what, three chances to kill me already this week?"

Hiccup might have been seeing things weirdly, but she could have sworn she saw Dagur falter a bit after that came out of her mouth. It was almost like she proved a point that was not-so-obvious to him, which is weird considering who she's talking to. Dagur seemed to always have a plan and know what's going on around him. I guess when you're deranged, you get to very vigilant of your surroundings.

He turned his gaze away from her, suddenly finding the wall interesting "Whatever. My job's done here." He swung around the corner and out of sight almost too quickly to be natural. It was like he couldn't wait to get away from her. Hiccup could tell that her remark had done something to him somehow… but she couldn't place what.


	12. What's in the Future?

**Hello again, readers~! I really don't have much to say, other than I'm glad I finally got this chapter out. Dagur's finally figuring stuff out and Hiccup's sorta catching on... sort of... anyway, the plot is getting closer to the point now. Oh, and I'm starting school next week and I have basically 2 study halls so maybe I'll actually be more frequent with my updates once I get into a school schedule. I'm not sure yet, though. All depends on my other classes and my level of homework. But one thing's for sure I probably won't update less frequently... probably.**

**The only other thing I have to say is, uh...**

**Warnings: mentioning of rape *shrugs* It's quite subtle in my opinion but I feel I should still put it up just in case...**

* * *

Dagur stomped back above deck in a frenzy that he was doing his best to mask. _ That arrogant, sassy little bitch!_ He screamed in his head, trying his best to keep his composure _"You would have killed me by now; you've had three chances." The only reason you're alive right now is because I'm in a jam and we need you._

He tried his best to reason with himself that, well, that was the only reason that Berk's little princess was still breathing and had something in her stomach, for that matter. Alvin never instructed Berserk's chief to go down and give her anything to eat; he did that on his own. His reasoning at the time was that she needed her energy when she got to Outcast Island. Alvin planned on working her from nearly the moment they hit his shores. But now that he had seen her and was already… confused… maybe there was another reason behind slipping her some food.

No, she needs to be in the best sorts possible for training Alvin's dragons. Then she has to move on to Berserk. She has to… she just has to.

Before he surfaced above deck, he took a breath and gained as much of his composure as he could muster in ten seconds. He must have done a better job than he thought at that because no one paid him any mind at all. Thank Thor for that…

Dagur met Alvin at the head of the ship, where they stood in silence for a few moments. "Where'd ye go, Dagur?" Alvin asked.

"Got hungry, grabbed something to eat." Dagur shrugged.

"That all?" The Outcast chief continued to pry "Didn't sneak down to check on our hostage or anythin'?"

"Eh, I tossed her some food too." The Berserker confessed "I figured she'd need some energy for training our dragons. She won't be of any use if she's weak from hunger."

"Smart thinkin' there, Dagur." Alvin patted the other chief on the back "I should 'ave let you align with me years ago."

"I wasn't the chief years ago." Dagur stated "My father was in this place until sometime last year."

"How's 'is retirement goin', anyway?" Alvin questioned.

"Oh, he's resting like the dead." Dagur let out a devious chuckle.

"Good to hear." Alvin joined in on the laughter "I like your style."

"Alvin!" Savage called as he strode over to the pair of leaders "We'll be docked on Outcast Island by sunrise tomorrow. Shall I send a word to prepare the dragons for training?"

Alvin scratched his wiry beard "Is that the best you can do? Sunrise tomorrow?" He interrogated.

"Y-yes, sir." Savage stuttered "Everyone's rowing as fast as they can manage right now-"

"Tell 'em to go faster, then." Alvin ordered "I want that girl trainin' me dragons as soon as possible."

"Y-yes Alvin." Savage backed up slowly "I'll tell the im-immediately." He pivoted on his heels and speed-walked back below deck.

* * *

Hiccup sat in her cell without moving a muscle for a few minutes, trying to process what had just happened. She just gave Dagur a bit of lip and he bolted away, it seemed. He'd never done that before; he'd always been one to challenge her mouth in the past. How come this time had been so different? It couldn't have been the situation she was in; he'd done worse to Fishlegs and relished in every moment of it. Something else was definitely going on with him and Hiccup had a feeling that it was more than just working with Alvin now.

But then another thought crossed her mind. Why did Dagur care so much about finding the Dragon Conqueror in the first place? Why did he need her caught so badly that he sided with the Outcasts to abduct her? It was really strange, to say the least. From what she knew, only the Outcasts had any kind of problem with the dragons. But, then again, what tribe of Vikings out there wouldn't want the ability to control an army of dragons? Hiccup surely was a prize to most of the Archipelago. If they had her, they had access to the dragons.

She sighed in defeat and finally started to nibble at her food. She knew then that this little trip to Outcast Island was not going to be fun. If anything, she'd be lucky to get back home any time soon. But then another fear struck her. What if, by the time she does manage to get free, will Berk even be standing anymore?

* * *

The next morning on the ship, Dagur expected to wake up in his cabin to the rocking of the ship against the waves. But instead… he was met with stillness that was almost foreign to him after a day or two at sea. Even when the water was smooth as glass, there was rocking on the boat. They were in Viking waters, for Thor's sake; there was never calmness at sea. It was then that he came to the conclusion that he was, in fact, on dry land again.

Yes, finally! Now Hiccup could start to work on the dragons and satisfy Alvin's need for power. Because only then he could have his go at her and take her back home to Berserk to train dragons for his armada of fifty-thousand warriors. The sooner he got her there to train those beasts, the better it would be for everyone on Berserk.

Closer to his goal, he practically had a skip in his step as he went up the deck and saw the bare land spotted with Loki Trees and, of course, dragons running rampant. The chaos was always welcomed to Dagur. If only he had some time to squeeze in a kill or two before he had to witness the dragon training commence for himself. Maybe he'd even pick up a few tips while watching her; you never know, right?

He found Alvin, Savage and a few miscellaneous crew members loitering around on the beach, not far from the ship. Expecting some kind of order or play through for the day ahead, he decided to join them.

"There he is!" Alvin proclaimed "Sleep well, Dagur?"

"Why wouldn't I?" The Berserker chief stretched with a groan "The sea's my second home."

"That's the spirit!" The Outcast praised.

"So… what's everyone talking about?" Dagur questioned.

"Where to put the girl when we take her off the ship." Alvin explained.

"I say we just put her in a cage without a dragon and make everything easier for us." An Outcast guard yelled.

"I second that." Savage admitted "It'll save heaps of time getting her to the ring every day."

"That we can do." Alvin permitted "Until she's trained the dragons, that is."

"So, what _are _we doing with her once she's trained our dragons for us?" Savage asked. He sure seemed like he was anxious to ask that question...

"She's going to Berserk afterwards." Dagur sternly declared "That was the deal. I help you catch her and I get to use her to help me out too."

"I mean after that." Savage continued "I know all about your agreement, Dagur."

Alvin scratched his beard "I'll toss it open to you lot too." He finally declared "Anyone got any bright ideas on what to do with the girl?"

Every man in the room fell silent as all of their energy and focus went to their brains, skimming them for possibilities of what more they can do with Berk's heiress. It seemed Alvin was set on using her to their full advantage at this point, beyond the dragons and using them to take over the Archipelago. Even Dagur thought about it carefully. What more could the two chiefs desire even more than the power that would come with the dragons being under their control? Then, it hit him.

"We could use her for ransom." He suggested, gaining everyone's attention "Stoick surely knows by now that she's gone missing. If we let him know we have her held prisoner, he'll give us anything to get her back… _anything._ Money, livestock, maybe control over Berk, if we're lucky."

Alvin nodded knowingly at the proposal "That we could do. Stoick would give the world to save 'is little embarrassment if he could." He looked Dagur over "Good thinking, boy."

"Hold on, I got an idea." Savage spoke up.

"I'm listenin'." The Outcast chief sat back in his chair "But it'll have to be pretty good to beat Dagur's idea, Savage."

"Oh, it's just as good. If not, better." He gave a devious smirk "We can use her."

"You'll have to be clearer than that." Alvin ordered.

"Yes, of course, Alvin." Savage took a breath before he went on "Think about this, men. She's a girl, and a weak one at that. Barely took two of our guys to lock her up-"

"But she came quietly, didn't she?" Dagur smirked back "How can you measure that when she didn't put up a fight?" … Where the hell did that come from?

"Point still stands." Savage barked back "But think about it. Pretty easy to overpower, don't you all agree?" He received a few nods of agreement and a fascinated look from his leader "Might as well enjoy ourselves a bit, right?" More nods followed with some equally menacing smiles.

But one of these looks didn't cross Dagur's face. From him just came confusion. Not so much for what the conversation had turned to (he wasn't surprised in the least, actually) but more as to why part of his brain was screaming at him to change their minds, to try to lure Alvin back towards his idea and make sure that Hiccup would be safe from that fate. It was a nagging little annoyance eating at the back of his head, eating away and clearly not going away until something was done towards its goal.

Dagur finally sputtered out a reply "Don't you think we'll get more out of this if Stoick gets her back unharmed?"

"Yes just said that Stoick would give anythin' to get her back." Alvin pointed out.

"I just know this from experience." Dagur protested "I've had hostages in past deals and people tend to give more in return for that hostage's safe return."

Alvin shrugged in response "That is true…"

"But, if he doesn't give us what we want for her, we can keep her _and_ we can take the island for ourselves." Savage persisted "There's no way we can lose a thing."

A smile crept through Alvin's scraggly beard "I like that idea, Savage." He patted said man on the back "First time you've had a good one in awhile."

If Dagur had less of a sense of dignity, he'd have hung his head in shame. That stupid nagging only got more annoying after that statement. What the hell did it want from him?! He tried, he failed. What more could there be? This development was no shock; in fact, he'd supported similar deals in previous situations he'd been sucked into. Why was this time so different?

"So who gets the first go at her, then?" Another guard shouted out.

"I say Alvin!" Savage pitched "He's the mastermind, after all."

"I definitely wouldn't mind." The Outcast chief acknowledged "But I'm feelin' generous today." He stepped towards Dagur "I say the one who led us to her in the first place should have the honors. What do ye say, Dagur?"

He stood there in silence for a moment. That stupid biting going on in his head was getting more intense as time went on. Somehow, he managed to suppress it to a manageable state but that didn't mean that it went away at all. It was digging at the nape of his neck, screaming at him to decline the offer all together. It's shrieks resonated through his whole skull and rattled his brain, making it a little too hot to bear underneath his helmet.

But then another angle was shot into his head to conflict the weirdness of it all. If he declined this offer, what would happen to him as a repercussion? Would he be looked down at? Would he bet cut out of the deal all together?

No. No, that couldn't happen. Dagur needed to keep this deal, no matter what the cost. Without even remembering the sensation in his head, Dagur replied "I say yes."

* * *

Hiccup was woken up the next morning by loud bangs against metal and a shout. She groggily crawled out from under her tarp blanket and found Dagur was the source. When her eyes finally focused in the light of the morning, he had his hands on the bars, a key dangling from between his fingers.

"Get up, Hooligan." He commanded with venom in his tone. Not wanting to set him off, Hiccup slowly stood from her place on the floor and stood at the door, waiting for it to be unlocked. "Hold out your hands." He ordered next. Hiccup did as she was told. A flash from the past came in her mind when Dagur bound her hands together with rope, a small amount saved for him to use as a lead for her. Only then did he unlock the door. "Let's go." He demanded, a yank of the rope accompanying it.

Hiccup was thrust forward as the Berserker led her from her cell and up the staircase. All the while, Dagur remained silent and looked straight ahead, as if he was trying to ignore the fact that she was even there… except for the rope dragging her along with him firmly grasped in his hand.

They reached the top of the stairs when Hiccup had enough of the silence "Where are you taking me?! Where are we?!" She shouted, demanding an answer.

"Well, Hiccup…" Dagur sneered as he tugged her through the doorway and into the light for the first time in two about days "Welcome to Outcast Island."

* * *

**Yay, I sort of have a cliffhanger this time around~! I hope that whoever asked for some kind of tormenting Hiccup to happen is satisfied a bit for now. **


	13. Welcome to Outcast Island

**Finally, I got this chapter out! Guys, I was trying to write this in study hall all week but first week of school stuff kept interfering with my only free time, at the moment. I'm finally getting to the point in this story where I'm excited to update and write it out, but school... I clearly have to find out a way to manage my time better now. It'll take me some time, with homework and all that jazz but I promise I'll update as often as I can until I get to that point.**

**My only warning this time is little bits of fluff start showing up here. I finally got to write fluff, guys, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to do these little scenes!**

* * *

He didn't believe them when he came and told them the day before. He had expected her to simply have gone missing and her friends to have assumed the worst. Stoick was all wrong all along in hopes that the truth was anything but. He'd assumed the lack of Berserker ships at the docks meant that Dagur finally got that he was over-staying his welcome and left without a good-bye, like Stoick expected of someone like him. The chief of Berk stayed blind long enough his daughter's captors to take her almost anywhere they wanted her to be in the Archipelago.

He collapsed in his chair the night before with this realization and stayed there with an unhealthy amount of mead in his system that slowly forced him to drift into an uncomfortable slumber. And waking up that morning knowing that the Berserkers had betrayed them after fifty years of peace and took Hiccup with them… it didn't exactly encourage Stoick to get up and do any of his duties as a chief. But he had to do them or the village would be out of hope sooner than it already would without Hiccup.

As he performed his tasks throughout the village that day, the chief's mind was on only one thing. That scrawny girl of Stoick's had grown to be more important than most of the villagers in the past year or so, beyond being just the daughter of a chief. She ended the war with the dragons and used that peace to assist her village to the best of her ability, improving everyone's lives to some extent… except Mildew but we won't be counting him… After years of being everyone's problem, she'd risen to be someone who was only going up from there. And now… she was gone.

Toothless was understandably a mess. Once the kids had gone through the trouble of figuring out how his tail worked and got him to fly out of the cove, he went frantically searching for his master only to come up empty-handed like everyone else. Ever since he couldn't find her, he'd been doing nothing but mope around the house and wander the island searching for her. But everyone else knew that he would never find her unless he miraculously grew back his tailfin. It was heartbreaking for even someone as thick-skulled as Stoick the Vast to have to watch.

It was when he was assisting in the repairs of a damaged ship that he decided that he had to get a small search party and start searching everywhere he could think of to find her. He didn't know what the Berserkers and the Outcasts wanted with her but he had a good idea. Alvin's stolen her before so that she could train dragons for him; why not try it again?

But he had to come up with a plan. He couldn't take an army and leave Berk defenseless. No, that would be the dumbest thing he would do in his whole career as chief. This plan required a small, efficient team. And more than anything, they all had to prepare for a fight. Odin only knows what Stoick could be walking into; it could be close to nothing or Dagur's armada combined with Alvin's on the offense, maybe even with dragons on their side too.

He would have to handle this like he did with the hunts for the dragons' nest; assemble a party and set off with the able-bodied volunteers he would receive. After all, Hiccup wasn't the price to pay for staying back anymore. She was the reason to set out in the first place.

* * *

"Welcome to Outcast Island." Dagur yanked the rope once more, thrusting Hiccup through the doorway and into the foggy atmosphere of the island lined with crags and charred grounds.

She turned her head around the ship and to the dock that the ship was docked on. Without much other choice, she quickly followed the Berserker chief's hasty pace down the incline, through the docks and stumbled onto the black sands of Outcast Island.

"Where are we going?" She asked again.

"The arena." Dagur spat back "You're going to train dragons for us."

"You know you're going to have to untie me for that, right?" the brunette remarked.

Another yank "Quiet!" Hiccup rolled her eyes when he turned away from her.

The walk to the arena was quiet after that little exchange, mostly because Hiccup was sure that if the rope kept being yanked on she'd have a dislocated arm in no time. It was funny how this kept happening to her; being easily overpowered and captured and by Dagur every single time. Every past time must have been some kind of omen; something telling her that she had to learn to do something about it before it was too late…. This is about how well she listened to that warning.

The Outcast village was just about as depressing as the rest of the island. It was scorched black with burns and destroyed houses that have yet to be repaired for one reason or another. It was obvious that the dragons were to blame for the damages. But there was much more carnage than the last time Hiccup had been forcibly taken to the island. It was like Thor had struck the place furiously in a fit of rage. It kind of reminded her of Berk before she trained Toothless and killed the Red Death.

She was lead through the village, where a climb up an incline to the top of Outcast Island's highest point, where the arena was held and Hiccup was sure that Alvin was waiting for her. At least she didn't have to scale the rocky walls to the top; that would have been impossible with her hands bound as they were. The Hooligan knew that they were getting close when the sound of distressed, angry roars met her ears, accompanied once in a while by battle cries and frustrated shouts from men, in the distance. That was the first taste of her new life; it seemed… only Odin knew how long she would be stuck in this place.

The pair reached the top and Hiccup's eyes fell on the chain boundary covering the open ceiling of the arena was a heated red. She wandered in front of Dagur and peered down into the place that she'd be forced into everyday from there on. The cause of preparing the chain links to melt was a furious deep purple Monstrous Nightmare, who was presently light up from snout to tail in a blaze, being cornered by five gigantic Outcasts. The dragon swished its tail and knocked three of them to their feet, nearly bit the arm off of another and light the last one's helmet on fire.

"What do you know?" Wait, when did Dagur get that close…? "They already have your first task all fired up for you." Hiccup looked up to find a smirk "Try not to die on only the first dragon." He walked towards the entrance while Hiccup hesitated for a moment, finally following in a slight state of confusion when her tether met its end and she felt the pull.

Dagur threw open a wooden trap door and jerked Hiccup inside before closing it behind it with a loud thud. Hiccup was then led through darkness for a few minutes and, just as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, she found Alvin's silhouette standing with his hands on his hips in front of an entry way to the battleground, or… former battleground. When Hiccup's eyes adjusted again, she noted that all that remained inside the arena now was the dragon, who seemed to be calming down but was still on fire.

"Welcome to your new job, Hiccup." Alvin greeted "Ye might as well get comfortable with this, ye'll be 'ere fir a while." He pulled on the metal grate separating the battlers from the spectators and turned back to Hiccup and Dagur "Untie her and throw her in." He ordered.

Without question, Dagur removed the rope from her hands and pushed her to the other side of the gate, Alvin swiftly slamming it back down to the rock floor to ensure she couldn't escape. Hiccup slowly stepped forward, staring down at her freed hands and flexing her wrists. It was about time she could move them; they were really going numb with how tight they were bound.

She took a deep breath and picked up her pace, advancing on the Monstrous Nightmare. It had spotted her with its fiery yellow eyes and prepared itself to attack.

"It's okay…" Hiccup reassured "It's okay… I'm not going to hurt you-"

The dragon trainer didn't have time to get any closer as the Monstrous Nightmare snarled and blasted a river of flames and lava at her and jumped out of the way. It pooled on the rock surface where she previously stood and the beast approached with anger clear in its eyes… but fear was present was well. After dealing with those Outcasts, it surely wasn't in any position to just trust Hiccup because she was smaller than them. This was going to be a little harder than she thought…

The Monstrous Nightmare roared and ran forward, making Hiccup bolt to her feet and run to another part of the arena. Another shot of flame flew past Hiccup and pooled in front of her. She turned back to the dragon and noticed that it had set itself on fire again. Just what she needed… The dragon pounced and landed right in front of her. It opened its mouth to breathe another shot of fire… but none came out.

"You're all out." Hiccup smiled at her luck and decided this was her chance to calm it, since the flames on its body had died down. "You don't have to be afraid." She put out a hand "I'm a friend." She got closer to its snout with caution. The dragon's pupils went from their angry slits to a calmer oval and Hiccup smiled as it touched its nose to her palm. "There we go." She soothed, starting to stroke the Monstrous Nightmare's hot, scaly skin.

* * *

"Very well done." Alvin commented "This just might get done sooner than I thought." He threw Dagur a smirk "Good thing for us, eh, Dagur?"

"Yep." Dagur quickly and blankly replied.

"Get that one in its cage and bring out the next dragon!" Alvin bellowed. Three Berserker warriors slipped through another opening gate, threw a rope around the dragon's neck and, with some difficulty, separated the reluctant reptile from its new friend. Hiccup glanced back at Alvin and Dagur "Yer workin' all day, Hiccup, get used to it!"

The afternoon was spent watching with shrinking enthusiasm as Hiccup was forced to train dragon after angry dragon. At first, it was thrilling to watch her dart across the caged area and avoid incoming shots from the dragons. But then she got comfortable in that position and the training became a slow bore. Get close, touch its nose, get close, touch it's nose… it was so repetitive, too much so for Dagur's short attention span. Would some blood spill really have killed anyone?

Twelve dragons later and the last dragon for the day had finally been sent out, mostly because even Alvin was starting to get tired of watching. Their prisoner had just finished taming a Gronkle when Alvin gave the call to bring it back to its cage. "And you," Alvin tossed Dagur the rope that had been discarded onto the floor at some point during the day "bring her to her cage."

Silently, Dagur opened the gate just enough for him to squeeze through and it fell back down behind him. Hiccup clenched her fists and glared at him. "Your turn to be put away, Hiccup."

She crossed her arms "Okay, where are we going this time, Dagur?"

"Hands." The Berserker ordered "Now." Hiccup sighed and held out her wrists, which he quickly tied together again "Come on." He led her towards the same gate that the dragons had been entering and exiting from all day and two Berserker men opened the way for them. He heard the door clang once more before the pair strode down the hallway, towards the prison cells.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, at a slower pace than that morning. Dagur noticed quite easily that Hiccup's gait was slower than before, with the occasional stumble and yawn. Making her trip and fall would only slow them down even more. After all, he was just as ready for some rest as she was.

"I hope you enjoyed your first day." Dagur glanced at her over his shoulder "Because there'll be plenty more just like it." Hiccup only lazily shrugged and bowed her head a bit more "Really? You're not going to say anything?" She slowly shook her head "Okay, then…"

Quiet fell between them again for a few minutes until they came to a crossroad in the tunnels. _Crap, which way were the prisons again? _Dagur thought _Definitely not strai-"_

His thoughts were paused by the rope's strain releasing some, a whimper and a sudden weight on his right arm. He swiftly turned his head and found Hiccup resting against his side and one of her arms leaning on his own.

She yawned again before she seemed to realize what she was doing and looked up at him. "S-sorry." She sputtered "I-I tripped."

Her body heat started to settle on his skin and the heat seemed to immediately transfer to his stomach and make its way up his neck in a matter of seconds. Without a real thought of any kind, he used the arm she was holding to push her off of him. "Get moving, Hooligan." He commanded, that warmth seeming to spark his memory and tell him to go left.

The rest of the way there wasn't much more entertaining than the rest of the walk. Just like in the arena, Dagur untied her hands and shoved her inside a cell that was carved out of rock on three sides and bars making up the fourth. He locked the door behind her as she fell to the stone ground. "Sweet dreams" he mockingly chimed as he sauntered back the way he came, not hearing a peep from the girl at all.

There was only one strange detail… the warm spot on his arm was still there. It stung a bit like a burn would, but… it felt different at the same time. Kind of like when he had docked a tiny ship he'd made himself on an island with an active volcano and jumped into a near boiling hot pond. It hurt, yes. But, maybe, it was worth it? The spot of skin right under his tattoo tingled with a warmth that he'd felt before but hadn't at the same time. Every burn was alike, but this wasn't a burn at all. She only touched him and this happened. Dagur examined his arm for any kind of mark but there were none to be found; at least, no new ones.

All of this stuff that was happening was really starting to get annoying. Caring about what's going to happen to her, bringing her food without being asked by anyone, now being touched by her practically burns him? Was this some kind of curse or something?! He didn't think he'd been around any witches lately, but you can never tell. Witches are tricky people, to say the very least.

That had to be it! He was cursed somehow; cursed into slowly and surely becoming softer, weaker… he had to do something about this spell before it wrecked his plans for Berserk and he became… his father. Dagur shuddered at the thought. No way would he become as soft as Oswald the Agreeable… not if he could help it.


	14. Catching On

**I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY! I know my update is REALLY late this time around but school has been draining my writing energy into essays for the past week. (My English teacher's having us practice college admissions essays so I had to do like three in a week and I have to turn in a revised version of one next week. Plus homework and now I'm getting quarter projects... school rant over) **

**So, other than that, I feel bad about these later updates so I did my best to make this chapter longer for you guys every way I could without dragging it out too much. I realized I didn't tie up what was going on with Stoick last chapter so I put it in here. Sorry if the time transition's a little awkward after that; I had no clue what else to do to make it flow any better. **

**Thank you for the favs, follow and reviews~! I love getting all of them and they make me smile and just... thank you... I'll shut up now and let you read...**

* * *

Not even twenty four hours had gone by and Stoick had already gathered the whole village into The Great Hall for a meeting. Every last Viking was inside the massive structure, standing in a crampt crowd around the fire pit and large dining table, on which a map of the chain of islands making up the archipelago spread out on it.

"Stoick," Spitelout began next to him "What's going on?" A few more questioning pleads sounded from the crowd.

The chief covered his eyes with a beefy hand "I have terrible news…" He lifted his head from his palm and spoke louder "for all of you." He paused for a breath "Hiccup has been abducted by the Berserker tribe…" Looks began to be exchanged "And they are also aligned with the Outcasts."

Gasps and more chatter arose.

"How could this happen?" A woman questioned.

"What about the treaty?!" A man sounded.

Stoick's eyes fell on Gobber "Ye know Dagur never signed the thing, right? " He scratched his bald head before continuing "Because of our 'dragon attack' last year?"

"I figured this would happen, Stoick." Spitelout admitted "Oswald retiring was a bad omen for sure. And now that crazy kid of his practically declaring war by running off with Hiccup to do Thor knows what to her?"

Stoick held up a hand and the room silenced once more "I know more than anyone in this room that this is alarming. But that is why I asked you all here today. We need to get her back, one way or another. I plan on taking a small group and setting out by ship. If Alvin or Dagur sees the dragons coming, they'll know to hide Hiccup… or worse." Miniscule chatter resumed "Do I have any volunteers?"

Spitelout and Gobber were the first to raise their hands. After all, Hiccup was family to both of them as well.

A few stray arms began to rise before Astrid stood up on a table and shouted "We're coming too!" Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut stepped in front of her.

"Oh, no," Spitelout declared "this is _not_ turning into us babysitting."

"Dad, come on!" Snotlout rebuffed "We _saw_ it happen."

"We're the ones that told you why Hiccup's gone." Tuffnut added.

"And she's our friend." Fishlegs continued "We can't just do nothing when we saw her get taken away."

"Even if she was just protecting everyone else…" Ruffnut muttered just loud enough for the chief to hear her.

"I know what she was thinking." Stoick acknowledged "But every day she spends with the Outcasts means another day that they have dragons trained and are taught how to do it themselves. This won't be an easy task. Not by any means."

"Who said anything about easy?" Snotlout smirked.

Stoick grumbled "Alright, fine. We leave in three days, that's the soonest we can get the supplies we need. Prepare yourselves."

The teens exchanged triumphant looks.

* * *

Morning came with the sounds of roaring dragons for Hiccup. She sat from her place on the rock floor and rubbed her back. Man, this surface was actually more uncomfortable than the soggy, wooden floorboards on the Outcast boats. How was that even possible? Guess hoping the moss that scattered the ground would help was a long shot, anyway…

Hiccup glanced about her cell. No windows, no furniture. Just an empty space carved out of rock with metal bars blocking off the only possible route out, unless a pick axe magically fell out of a hidden compartment in the wall. Dim light flickered from the dying torches in the corridor her cell was connected to. She thanked Odin that they were still light to begin with, or else she'd probably be in total darkness.

Along with the eerie lighting in her cell, there was one other thing that disturbed her to no end. Whenever she managed a decent look around the tunnels, she noticed that there were a few other cells around her own. But they were all scattered, almost randomly, throughout the walls. She was pretty sure her cell was the only one for a good distance. This confused her, really. Why not just keep all of your prisoners together? But she _was_ an asset to them right now, so maybe that value gave her special treatment?

She wobbled to her feet and her sleep-filled eyes easily adjusted to the thick darkness in the prison. She wondered if it was closer to sunrise or midday as she turned and gave her forced home one more look. And she thought about Toothless, her father and her friends and hoped that they were all as safe as Alvin had promised. After all, how well can you trust someone who had "Treacherous" in their title? Then again… she let Dagur have the slightest sliver of trust and look where it got her.

She rested against the bars and stared at the flickering gleam of the torches on the opposite wall. It had been four days since she'd been made into Alvin's personal dragon trainer and, needless to say, it had not been a pleasant experience at all.

As a prisoner, she had a pretty strict routine for each day. She'd wake up in darkness and listen to her stomach growl until someone (usually Dagur, for some reason) showed up to bind her hands again and drag her back into the arena to train more dragons for the Outcasts. Most of the time, it wasn't much of a problem for her to do so. But then there were times when the Berserkers got bored and decided to anger the next dragon enough that it would attack any human that it saw, which, of course, was always Hiccup.

She'd spent the week thus far being a dragon's moving target, Alvin's trainer and a prisoner to two of the most ruthless tribes in the entire archipelago. And she had to carry out whatever they had assigned her with exhausted limbs and a ferocious growl in her stomach, as she was only fed a few small morsels of food, probably leftovers from their meals, a night. Of course, she became crafty with her portions and hid some of them in case her hunger became paralyzing or her rations were forgotten. Honestly, you'd think Alvin would treat the person that he needs alive just a little better.

The prisoner knew that another hard day was ahead of her when she heard a pattern of footsteps that were becoming very familiar to her over this amount of time and saw another torch light coming closer. She created a visor with one of her hands as the light stopped in front of her and she squinted slightly to see her apparent prison guard was holding the torch and a familiar section of rope.

Hiccup sighed and put out her hands as he unlocked the cell door. "Finally accept your fate, Hooligan?" Dagur berated as he wrapped the rope around her wrists in the usual fashion that she'd become accustomed to.

"I'm clearly not getting out of this; what's the point of fighting you anymore?" Hiccup always watched his hands glide across hers with the binding, hoping to find a weak point in the rope or some kind of flaw that she could use to escape but never found one. Though, she did notice one other odd thing. It seemed as though he was doing everything he could to avoid touching her skin, for some reason. He always seemed like he was on a bit of a guard too. For what, Hiccup didn't know. But, if she didn't know better, she'd think that he was being wary of her. It was hard to tell; the guy was pretty hard to read.

"Let's move." Dagur grumbled. Hiccup immediately complied; she really didn't need him to yank the rope anymore...

* * *

Dagur lead Hiccup through the tunnels with a neutral expression and caution known only to him. There had been one or two more moments where the prisoner had brushed up against him and that weird warmth kicked in once more. And, each time, it lingered long after she'd been stowed away in her cell of tossed into the battle arena for yet another day of boring observation. Honestly, if Alvin wanted to know how to train the dragons himself, he could force her to teach him and save everyone the time they were putting into figuring it out while watching her.

Oh, right, those burns. Over the past few days, Dagur had been observing every hot spot that flared up on his skin, inspecting them for marks that weren't there before. He even looked back at every time the two have recently made contact, to see if he could recall her muttering any weird chants or anything along those lines. He couldn't think of any but there was also a chance that he just didn't hear the incantation, if one was performed at all.

He was convinced that Hiccup had some sort of scheme for getting out of the situation she was in. According to Alvin, who has had more encounters with her in battle than he has, that she always had some kind of desperate effort to get her way in the end. She'd eluded the grip of the Outcasts multiple times already and Alvin even seemed surprised that they'd kept Hiccup contained for as long as they had. She was a tricky one; that was for sure.

With that in mind, Dagur thought about the sensations she'd given him and he started to peg them as part of her plan to escape. If the person who was in charge of escorting her from place to place was out of commission, then she could easily slip away into the tunnels and hide in the shadows until she found an open exit and got out. And Dagur couldn't let that happen; not before he got her to Berserk.

In silence, the pair made it out of the tunnels and into the light of the arena. Behind him, Dagur heard Hiccup hiss when they walked through a patch of sunlight coming from a window. Man, being in the dark so much must have been messing with her eyes- wait a minute, why did he care about her eyes? As long as she can train the dragons, or teach them how to do it themselves, she was worth keeping alive. Then again, Alvin made it clear that she'd be made useful after the dragons were taken care of, anyway. If she couldn't do that first task, Alvin might just order to skip to the next one that he was so fond of.

What was even going on with him anymore? If a spell was cast on him by this little witch, it was obviously affecting not only his body but his mind. Dagur was actually starting to think that there must be something else that they could do with her than use her for their own satisfaction. He was almost thinking that it would be better if they just let her go, or if he would do that with her after she was done with her job on Berserk. After all, his island, his rules.

They approached the gate into the arena and Dagur untied Hiccup's hands once again. A guard opened the doorway and Hiccup stepped inside without a word or movement that showed resistance. The grate slammed back down behind her, causing her to jump and glance over her shoulder at it before moving forward in her usual, neutral manner.

_Okay. One more trip down, Thor knows how many to go. _Dagur noted, walking back to the surface, where he and Alvin were going to observe the training session once again from the top of the dip in the rock. One more round of taking the little witch around without another one of those burning sensations. Thank Odin.

Now, Dagur wasn't afraid of the supernatural, believe it or not. Most Vikings were, as they're cautious of many things that they don't know or can't comprehend. He was more… superstitious was all. He told himself that he wouldn't allow that curse she must have put on him to grow any stronger and, if touching her skin was what did that, then he'd avoid doing that as much as he could.

Dagur might not have known much about witches but he knew that they worked mysteriously and that certain traces of their spells could mean a number of things were cast. If he let anything strengthen, he had no clue what could happen to him. He could be cooked from the inside out, be given some kind of incurable disease or he could even die from letting a witch get to him. And he had more important things to do than drop dead, that was for sure.

The Berserker chief stepped out of the door to the tunnels and wandered to the edge of the plateau, stopping a distance away from the Outcast chief. A Gronckle was thrown into the cage with her, flying near the chain barrier keeping it inside and watching Hiccup with spite in its eyes, while Hiccup just looked up at it blankly. This had truly become routine for her by now, it seemed.

The dragon hovered above her for a moment before diving down towards her with a roar. The trainer leapt out of the way effortlessly and watched it land on the other end of the ring. It backed up against the wall as she stepped closer, appearing to say calming words to it. Hiccup cautiously inched closer, her hand extended, and placed it on the dragon's snout. It heaved a heavy grunt and then seemed to relax under her touch.

"She sure does have a way with them dragons." Alvin commented, seeming pleased with the result.

"At least she's speeding this up." Dagur huffed.

Alvin chuckled "Ye'll get yer end of the bargain, don't ye worry. And plus…" He leaned closer to the other "the little bonus-"

"Alvin!" The two chiefs turned to see Savage sprinting towards them with a looking glass "There's a ship on the horizon. And it ain't one of ours."

"What?!" Alvin exclaimed "Gimme that thing!" He snatched the looking glass and peered out to the seas below them.

"Any idea who it is?" Dagur questioned.

"Not sure, but I know it ain't Johann either; he was here two weeks ago." Savage confirmed.

"I don't believe it." The chief Outcast growled "That's one of Stoick's ships, tryin' to be all slick."

"What do you want us to do, sir?" Savage asked "Let them to shore before we attack?"

"No." The Berserker chief interjected "We can't let them anywhere near here. Send out a ship and keep them busy until Hiccup's on her way to Berserk." He glanced over his shoulder, upon hearing a roar sound from the arena. Another dragon must have been brought out or something. His gaze met the messenger again "Or deter them or sink the ship, whichever appeals more."

"Right, then." Savage affirmed before running off to follow through on the orders.

Alvin turned back to Dagur with a foul grimace "How dare ye."

"What?" Dagur shrugged and tossed up his hands.

"How dare ye order me men around." He snarled, drawing his axe from its holster "If ye want to bark out orders, go to yer own men." He swung at the other chief.

"This is my operation as much as yours, Alvin." The Berserker reminded, quick to take out his sword and allow it to meet the axe "You want Hiccup to train your dragons just as much as I need her to train the dragons on Berserk. And the only way that plan will keep working is if we keep her rescue party as far away as possible until we get what we need out of her. It's basic strategy."

"Don't ye tell me about strategy." Alvin broke the stalemate and swung again.

Dagur deflected effortlessly as their weapons continued to clang and scrape together "It's amusing how I'm handling you with one hand to both of yours, Alvin." He taunted "Might wanna give up before this gets messy."

"I don't think so, boy." The Outcast remarked "Ye may be workin' with me right now, but this is _me_ island. And, if ye want yer go at the girl, I'd show dear old Alvin some respect."

"Neither of us'll get to keep her unless we make sure no one can come to her rescue." Dagur gripped his sword with both hands and pushed Alvin away from him "You want the plan to work, don't you?"

The Outcast stared in anger for a moment before he relaxed his shoulders with a huff "Alright, fine. We'll go through with yer little plan. But, if it fails, it'll be yer head."

"Then I guess I'm safe." Dagur smirked, crossing his arms.

Alvin looked the Berserker over a few times before his eyes locked on part of the ground. Dagur followed his gaze and noticed what the other was staring at.

For the past few days, Dagur had been carrying a small totem in one of his pockets, as another failsafe against Hiccup's burning touches. It didn't look too conspicuous, only being a smooth slab of rock with carvings in it. He, uh… borrowed it from the soothsayer on the island after he decided that he valued his life. And that's exactly what was on the rock floor at that moment. Crap, it must have fallen out when he and Alvin were having their little squabble a minute or two ago.

"What's that?" Alvin asked.

Dagur knelt down and scooped the totem up, slipping back where it fell out "Good luck charm." He nonchalantly replied, rolling his shoulders.

A flare shot out of the arena "Whatever. Just make sure the girl doesn't kill herself before we're done with her." Alvin ordered as he began to walk away.

"And what are you going to do while I'm supervising the boring dragon training?" Dagur inquired.

"I gotta sharpen me hatchet." He claimed "If Stoick gets by that boat of yers, I'd love to kill him with the weapon he stole from me."

Dagur rolled his eyes "Whatever."

The last thing Alvin said before he left Dagur's sight was "Just watch the girl."

The tattooed chief dragged his feet back to the edge of the platform and peered down into the dome topped with burning hot chains. Hiccup was finally calming the Nadder that some of the grunts had thrown in the arena with her. She stepped in front of its nose and put her palm on it; just like every other time Dagur had seen her tame a dragon thus far.

That must have been the secret to it; having the dragon allow you to touch it. She'd done it countless times in that week, along with a few other tricks they'd never seen before. Hell, she even did that when that dragon attacked them on Berk.

Alright. At least he knew what to aim for now, just in case Hiccup didn't make it to Berserk. Though, he couldn't see how that would happen. Getting that Hooligan boat handled before it anchored on the beach was the best idea he'd come up with that week. If they couldn't get to her, then she couldn't get away. She was just like a downed dragon surrounded by Vikings out for blood. And a downed dragon isn't going anywhere.


End file.
